Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2023

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.

Blog Posts on Books and Hooks

The Seven Word Story Tag

My Favorite Book Couples

What’s Your WIP? Writing Tag #2

Reviewing February’s Goals

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 at least 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!

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What’s Your WIP? Writing Tag #2

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.
• Link back to the creator, Katja @ Little Blossoms for Jesus.
• List the rules. 
• Answer the questions. 
• Feel free to add snippets!
• 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!

My Favorite Book Couples

Hello everyone! So, I didn’t get around to posting yesterday, but then I thought that this post might work better for today, with it being Valentine’s day and all!

As you have read in the title of this post, I will be listing a few of my favorite book couples! There were definitely a lot of cute couples I wanted to include in this post, so I decided to narrow the list down to five, which I didn’t technically accomplish, as you’ll see reading the list. 😄

Before reading this post, beware that it may contain spoilers for certain books that contain the couples I am going to be talking about, so proceed with caution!

Okay, here are my top five bookish couples! (They are listed in no particular order.)

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Katniss and Peeta from the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

Starting off strong is Katniss and Peeta from the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, one of my favorite book series of all time. I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain this one much. Peeta is just such a good person in general, and he and Katniss just work. They’ve been through so much, but I love that they sort of got their happy ending. There is a certain quote at the end of Mockingjay about how Katniss needed Peeta, who was like a dandelion in the spring, and it’s just so sweet. I am, and will be, team Peeta forever! Here’s the quote:

“That what I need to survive is not Gale’s fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.”

Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

James and Hazel from Lovely War by Julie Berry

I am actually currently re-reading this amazing book now. James and Hazel are such a cute couple! I love their cute little moments, and all of their slightly cringey interactions in the beginning. They go through so much, and I definitely got annoyed at both of them at different points in the book, but they are an amazing couple, and I would really recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t yet read it!

Lily and Cade from P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

P.S. I Like You is probably my favorite book by Kasie West. I like the sort of rivals-to-lover trope, and I just think that Cade and Lily are such a cute couple! One thing, though, about Kasie West’s books is that her couples come together at the last minute in all of her books, it seems. Anyways, I love Cade and Lily, and they make such a cute couple in the end.

Elias and Laia from the Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir

I love couples in series because then, they have more time together and I have more time to get attached to them. This is no different for Elias and Laia in the Ember in the Ashes quartet. I love their relationship, how they eventually end up together, and how Laia doesn’t give up on Elias, especially during the middle/end of the series.

All of the couples in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Okay…this is where I couldn’t narrow down the list to just five couples! Little Women is one of my favorite books, and I love who each of the March sisters ends up with. Meg and Mr. Brookes are a lovely couple, and I really like their story and reading about the start of their life together. I like Jo and Mr. Bhaer (I don’t know if that’s spelled correctly), and how Mr. Bhaer kind of comes along at the right time for Jo. Amy and Laurie also just work so well together, and I couldn’t see it being any other way!

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So, that’s it: my seven favorite book couples! Who are your favorite book couples? Do you disagree with any of my picks? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Well, thank you all for reading! I hope that your week is going well, and I hope that you have an amazing day. I will see you back here next week! Bye until then! ❤

~ Rebekah

The Seven Word Story Tag

Hello and happy Monday, everyone! Thanks for clicking on this post of mine today. I got tagged by both Diamond and Sawyer, so thank you both! This post has been sitting in my drafts for quite a while now, and I figured I’d get it posted today. 😃

The rules for this tag are simply to thank the person who tagged you, write your seven word story, and tag 3 people.

My story:

“Time has passed, yet the memories linger.”

This tag was actually harder than I thought it would be! I really struggled with narrowing it down to just seven words. I very much wanted to write a longer story from this sentence, but I guess that this will have to be it. How do you like it?

I will tag: Selina, BetsyJane, and AnnaKate. Looking forward to reading y’all’s short stories if you end up doing this tag!

Thanks for reading! I will be back with a new post next week, so goodbye until then!

Monthly Wrap-Up: January 2023

Hello everybody! Welcome to today’s post, a review for the month of January! I hope that y’all had an amazing start to the year. I just can’t believe that we’re already a month into 2023!

Books I Read

Animal Farm by George Orwell. This was a book I had been assigned to read for my English class, and I found it quite interesting. Although it is written about animals, it was easy to understand that the author was portraying what happens at times in the human world. It had lots of political symbolism and meaning in it, without being daunting or boring in any way.

Little Women by Luisa May Alcott. I read this book several years ago, and I didn’t think about it much at the time. I remembered it being pretty good, yet I didn’t appreciate this amazing piece of literature as much as it deserved. After rereading it, I admire it very much. I love the sisters, the story, everything…it’s just such a good book. I think that it definitely makes it into one of the top spots in my favorite classic books!

The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff. My sister and I both listened to this book, and I really liked it. It was very good. Not super amazing, but it was a good, solid read. The ending was quite bittersweet as well.

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson. After much nagging by my sister, I am now continuing this series. I liked this book quite a bit, although I got very annoyed at the different characters throughout the book, and it was a very crazy read! Such a cliffhanger, too! I will be continuing the series, and reading the final book soon!

Crochet Projects

I did not crochet a lot this month. Just a few smaller projects, like a mini octopus and a little bear that is almost finished. I do plan to release a pattern in February, so keep an eye out for that!

Blog Posts on Books and Hooks

I did not get much posted this month, but oh well! I’m back to my once-a-week posting schedule now.

Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023

New Year Q&A: Answering Y’all’s Questions!

Reviewing January’s Goals

• Get into a new running routine. I sort of did, but still working on it.
• Post weekly on both of my blogs. I did not accomplish this goal. I only posted on here twice, and I made one post on my other blog. (If you’d like to check that out, click here! 😊)
• Create a new schedule. I did. If I followed it is another story…😄
• Drink eight cups of water a day. Just about! Not every single day, but I made a lot of effort throughout the month.
• Write every day. Again, just about! There were a few days that I did not get around to it, but overall, I was pretty successful!
• Get new glasses. I did! I am so thankful that I have these new glasses because I now realize how much my prescription has changed. Things are so much clearer with my new glasses!
• Go through my clothes and get rid of stuff. Nope. I kept putting it off, and somehow January slipped by. This one will go on to February’s list of to-do’s!
• Read a classic. Yes!
• Journal every day. This one, I did not accomplish, but I will say that I was more consistent than before.

Goals for February

• Go through clothes and get rid of stuff.
• Keep consistent with running, and run at least 20 miles.
• Start biking again.
• Start making a playlist for my book.
• Read at least four books.
• Post at least once on my other blog.
• Post once a week on here.

Pictures from January

Not many pictures from January.

A picture from one of my walks.

And another! The sky’s sunset was so pretty on this walk!

Important Events/things that Happened in January

• In January, it was just a lot of getting back into the routine of things after the holidays, and getting into the new year!
• I started running again!
• I am also beginning to write a book! I technically started it in December, but only got a few pages written before 2023 came around. I wrote a lot more this month, and am really enjoying getting to know my characters!
• I honestly don’t remember anything huge happening…it was a pretty chill month.

Thank you all for reading this post! How did your January go? What do you have coming up in February? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

I hope you have an amazing week! I will see all of you back next Monday. Bye until then!

New Year Q&A: Answering Y’all’s Questions!

Hello everybody! If you’re new here, welcome, I hope you enjoy today’s post! If you’re not new, thank you for coming back and reading this Q&A of mine! Let’s get straight into the post!

Anna asked:

What’s your favorite book series? I have so many, and it’s tough to choose just one! The Lord of the Rings series, set in a very intricate world with well-developed characters, has to be one of my favorites! The Hunger Games is another series that is at the top of my list!

How long have you been blogging? I started a blog to post school essays for my R.P.C. classes at the beginning of 2021. I don’t know if that would be considered blogging, as I was just posting school stuff. However, I loved the community and was interested in starting a blog to share posts about my hobbies, so I started this blog, Books and Hooks, during the summer of 2021! I have been blogging on here for approximately a year and a half, which is hard to believe!

BetsyJane asked:

What’s your favorite crochet project you’ve done? There are so many! I have been crocheting for a long time. There are some that I am very proud of, such as my first amigurumi doll, or the first pattern I followed, which was a baby blanket for my little cousin. It’s kind of difficult to come up with my favorite crochet project, considering there have been so many, but there have been a lot of cute amigurumi animals, dolls, and toys that I have made, and those are some of my favorites!

Who’s your favorite singer? I like listening to a lot of Christain artists and bands, such as Colton Dixon, Francesca Battistelli, Jeremy Camp, PJ Anderson, and For King and Country. Their songs are just so uplifting and inspirational! I also like listening to Taylor Swift, and I’ll often listen to instrumental pieces or movie soundtracks while I’m working on school.

Heidi asked:

What are the top three books you’ve read this past year? I feel like I didn’t read a lot of good books this past year, but there were some that stood out. My three favorites would have to be Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (check out my book review here to learn more about my thoughts concerning this amazing book), The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, and…maybe I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys. I do realize that two of these are by the same author, but she just writes really good books, and I would recommend them to anyone who wants to read something historical. I always learn more about history through Ruta Sepety’s books, and I love how she writes about little-known times in history, and events that I had almost no previous knowledge of before reading the book.

Top three movies you watched this past year? I am not a big movie person, and I don’t really keep track of the movies I watch, so this is a bit of a difficult question for me. I first watched the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series on Netflix this past year, and I think that it was well-made, and I probably like them better than the books. I also watched the second Enola Holmes when it came out, and I liked it better than the previous one. As for a third movie…I don’t know. I do a lot of rewatches, so I didn’t watch a lot of new movies this past year.

Top five memories from this past year? There were some pretty great things that happened this year! My siblings and I went to visit family for a couple of weeks in the summer, which would have to make it onto this list. I also made my Confirmation, which was a big memory for the year. I finished both the first and second drafts of my dystopian novel, which…really surprised me, considering I didn’t ever imagine completing both of those. I ran seven miles continuously, which I never thought possible either! A lot of good times with family, too!

Top five to ten pictures from this past year? This is difficult, because many of my favorite photos are of me or my family, and I don’t feel comfortable sharing those on here. But, I did go through my camera and pick out a few of my favorites that don’t contain faces or anything! ☺

Anoushka asked:

If you could choose only one book to read for the rest of time, which one would it be? This is such a difficult question to answer! I cannot imagine just reading one book over and over again, because I like variety in the genres and books I read. I might go with Little Women, but that answer may just be because I recently finished it and it’s still fresh in my mind.

Book/movie characters you see yourself most in? I’ve never really thought of this before…🤔 Basically any quiet or shy book-loving character. I cannot think of any at the moment, but I’m sure there are a lot. There are a few characters in the books I’m writing that are very similar to me, but I’m not sure that counts toward this question, because it was me who created the characters.

Five tv shows/movies that define you? This is another one I haven’t really contemplated before, and, to be honest, I don’t quite understand it. Movies or shows that define me?

Story ideas you’re most excited to write about? Okay, so there’s this story idea I have, and I don’t know how good it is, but I think it would be interesting to write. The basic idea is that there is one character who was in a house fire (Landon is the name I’ll give him for now) and lost almost everything. Another character (whose name will be Magnolia) donates a crochet blanket to the hospital, and the blanket ends up going to Landon who is at the hospital. The blanket is one of the only things he has in those dark times after losing his house and everything, and when he gets out of the hospital, he sets out to find who made the blanket. That’s the general concept, but I don’t really have any further ideas and I’m not sure where the story would go. I am not going to start writing it yet or anything, because I already have a couple of books I’m working on at the moment, but I will save the idea and maybe use it in a later novel! I also like the idea of writing a historical fiction novel, but I know how much research is required to write one accurately, and I do not particularly enjoy researching…maybe someday!

Favorite genre? I like reading a variety of YA genres and am always in the mood to read from different genres. My favorite, though, are between contemporary (like Kasie West’s books!) and historical fiction.

Pertsfarms asked:

What are some of your favorite memories of 2022? I listed a few of them earlier in this Q&A. Visiting relatives and meeting some of my newest cousins were definitely some of the happiest memories from this past year. I also feel like I completed a lot of goals, and got really far with blogging and my other hobbies, which is amazing and definitely produced some of my favorite memories of the year!

Lydia asked:

Do you think we owe Aragorn, son of Arathorn, our allegiance? Yes, I think we do! 😄

Polka dots or stripes? Polka dots!

Who do you look up to the most? I look up to both of my parents, and a lot of my older family members, such as my nana, aunts, and you, my older sister! There are a lot of saints that I look up to as well, drawing inspiration from their stories, and looking at their lives and the examples they’ve set.

What is one of the saddest deaths in a book or movie/tv show? I know that there are many, but I just can’t think of them right now. I guess that there were many deaths in A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir, and they were heartbreaking. Also, (spoiler warning for anyone who has not read The Hunger Games series) Prim’s death in Mockingjay is just so tragic, especially considering all that Katniss did for her, and how Katniss responded. Finnick, too. I think that his death, unlike Prim’s, was sort of unnecessary. Salt to the Sea also had a lot of sadness. The Book Thief as well…there are just so many sad books! 😢

Least fav book of 2022? Probably the Summer I Turned Pretty series. The first one was okay…nothing great, but not horrible either. The second and third books were just awful, and I hated the ending!

Jan asked:

Who is your favorite author? I have read all of Ruta Sepety’s YA novels, and I’d have to say that she’s definitely one of my favorite authors. Her books are very well-researched and historical, yet contain interesting characters that drive the plot forward. As I said earlier in this post, one thing I like about Ruta Sepety’s books is that she chooses to write about occasions in history that I don’t hear about a lot, which makes them very interesting and educational. I like the characters, and…yes, she’s just an amazing author! I hope she writes another book soon!

What made you start blogging? I started a WordPress blog at first to just share school essays, but after following a few other blogs and interacting with other bloggers, I decided to start a blog to post crochet patterns and book reviews!

Who is your favorite fictional character? There are many different characters that I like, but one of the first people who comes to mind is Peeta from the Hunger Games series (preferably the books, but he’s not bad in the movies either.) I just really like his personality, and contrary to what the majority of my family believes, he is not a wimp! I also like Laia’s character in the Ember in the Ashes quartet and I like watching her character development throughout the series.

Diamond asked:

What is your favorite family memory? There are so many! I don’t think it’s possible to choose just one! 🥰

What made you start blogging? As I said earlier, I started this blog as a space to share patterns for crochet and book reviews! I have always been interested in talking about my hobbies, but it wasn’t until I started a blog to post school essays that I realized how simple it was to start a blog, and I created Books and Hooks!

Where do you see yourself in five years? I will likely be graduated by that time, and maybe be pursuing a career. I’m not sure what else. I don’t exactly know what I want to do when I am older, so this is a bit of a tricky question.

Mayim asked:

Favorite breakfast food? I love bagels with cream cheese, especially when the bagels are homemade! Smoothies are another favorite of mine!

Favorite store? I don’t do a lot of shopping, so…does a thrift store count? That’s the main type of shopping I do. Ooh, used bookstores as well! 😁

Cheese or supreme pizza? Supreme pizza!

Favorite song? There are so many! I am always listening to different types of music depending on my mood, and what I feel like listening to at the moment. I really like Taylor Swift’s lyricism in her songs, but I don’t know how I could decide on just one song. “Miracles” by Colton Dixon is one of my favorite upbeat Christain songs, and “Love Will Heal” by PJ Anderson is a calmer song that I find myself listening to a lot. So, my basic answer is that my music tastes are always changing and it is hard for me to choose just one song! These two, though, are some of my top picks.

Are you a Starbucks fan, and if so, what’s your usual order? I have actually never been to Starbucks because there is not one very near to my house. 🙁

Sophia asked:

Favorite movie? I am not a big movie person, because I often find it hard to sit still and concentrate on a whole movie. With that being said, there are some that I really do like. The Lord of the Rings films are amazing (as are the books). It’s a Wonderful Life, I’m Not Ashamed, Miracles from Heaven, the Hunger Games movies, and the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy are some of my favorites!

Favorite show? I do not find myself watching a lot of tv shows, but my favorite is no doubt the Stranger Things tv series! I like many of the characters and a lot of the themes relating to friendship and courage. I am also going through The Chosen, which is really good! I am only on the first season, but I want to finish the series soon. I would definitely recommend it, based on what I’ve watched so far.

Favorite holiday? I love both Christmas and Thanksgiving! In the end, I’d probably go with Christmas, but Thanksgiving is an amazing holiday as well, with food, family and friends, and being reminded of all to be thankful for. However, on Christmas, we are celebrating Christ’s birth, which makes it my favorite holiday.

Where do you want to go on vacation? If I could go anywhere in the world, I’d probably choose somewhere in Europe, such as Italy or France. They seem like they have such good food, as well as many historical landmarks that would be interesting to see. Ireland would be another interesting visit!

That’s it! Thank you so much to the amazing bloggers who asked questions; I had lots of fun answering them and writing this post! How would you have answered these questions? Were you surprised by any of my answers? I’d love to hear from y’all in the comments!

I hope that you enjoyed this post! I also hope that you are having an amazing start to your week! I will probably be back next Monday, though I know I haven’t been the most consistent blogger lately, so we’ll have to see. 😄 Thanks for reading, and bye for now!

Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2022

Hello, welcome back to my blog! I hope you are having a wonderful day today! ☺️ Am I the only one who can’t believe it’s the final day of 2022?

In this post, I’ll be wrapping up December: talking about what I did, the books I read, which goals I accomplished, and sharing photos from my month! Let’s dive right in!

Books I Read

I feel like I had a really good reading month! This was probably due to the fact that I was trying to hit my 2022 reading goal.

By Your Side by Kasie West was a reread for me. I listened to the audiobook while I helped clean my little sibling’s room. This was the first Kasie West book I read, last year, and maybe my favorite, although it’s hard to rank her books! They are such cute, quick contemporary books that are easy to read, yet are still wholesome.

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway was my second book of the month, borrowed from the library. Although there were some aspects I did not like, I was able to overlook that and appreciate other points of the story. I liked it fairly well, although I was a bit disappointed with the ending for some reason.

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys was just…amazing. Her books are always very good, informational, historical fiction novels, but they still are interesting and easier to read than a history textbook. This Ruta Sepetys book was no different; I learned a lot about a time in history I rarely hear of, 1989 Romania. I really hope she writes more amazing YA historical fiction novels!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson was very interesting. It’s not a genre I would normally be picking up, but my sister and I read it together so we could discuss it afterward, and I thought that it was a very thought-provoking book. I feel like the story didn’t really revolve around the characters, but more the question of how far is too far in medical science. It definitely made me think of things I’d never considered before, and I like that.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen was the third Jane Austen book I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it! Although it is an older book, I was able to follow along pretty well, and may be one of my favorite Jane Austen books so far.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was a book I was assigned to read for school, but I actually enjoyed it a bit. I found it very fun at points, yet I didn’t see a very clear storyline in it.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han was another reread of the month. I remember really liking these when I read them last year, but this time, I feel as if I don’t as much. I was getting fairly annoyed by Peter Kavinsky, and just some things in the story.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han is the second book in the series. Again, it wasn’t as good as I remember it being the first time. One thing I do enjoy from these books, though, is the sister relationships!

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was the perfect Christmas read! This was actually my first time reading it, though I’ve watched the movie multiple times. I really liked it! I like the story overall, and many of the descriptions throughout the book.

Stranger Things: The Other Side by Jody Houser is a comic book about the tv show, Stranger Things. I enjoyed it, although I don’t usually read comics. This is one of my favorite shows, and I read through this graphic novel in one sitting!

Today, on the last day of 2022, I am reading The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. I am probably going to finish it today, as I have only about 150 pages left in it as I am posting this. I think that it’s very well so far, and contains many good quotes.

Crochet Projects

This month, I got a few Christmas decorations finished, as well as many of my Christmas presents, despite my resolutions to get presents finished early this year! 😅

Blog Posts on “Books and Hooks”

DIY Book Tree: BetsyJane’s Blog Tour

The Christmas Tag

Five Last-Minute Gift Ideas: Collab With Diamond!

Merry Christmas // A Christmas Poem

Reviewing December’s Goals

• Go to bed by ten each night. Not every night, but I do feel like I’ve improved my sleep schedule this month.
• Bake some Christmas cookies. Yes! My family and I made many Christmas cookies and treats this year! I’ll add pictures of some of them at the bottom of the post!
• Complete my reading goal. Yes, this year’s goal was 52 books, and I finished with 55 books read this year. (If I finish the book I’m currently reading today.)
• Practice the piano every day and learn some Christmas songs. Nope!
• Make a Christmas music playlist. I added some new songs to a playlist my sister made last year, so kind of, I guess.
• Go thrift shopping. I did go thrift shopping a couple times this month, mostly to buy Christmas gifts and decorations!
• Get some more yarn. I did! I mostly needed to get some to make some presents, but I also bought some Christmas colored yarn and made myself a hat!
• Decorate for Christmas. Yup!

Goals for January

• Get into a new running routine.
• Post weekly on both of my blogs.
• Create a new schedule.
• Drink eight cups of water a day.
• Write every day.
• Get new glasses.
• Go through my clothes and get rid of stuff.
• Read a classic.
• Journal every day.

Pictures From My Month

My nails!

Truffles!

Buckeyes!

It snowed!

🤍

My cat, Luna! 💕

Icy frost on the window.

Peppermint meringue cookies!

Chocolate white chocolate cookies!

Gingersnap cookies my brother made!

Fudge!

Soup! 🍲

I’m the only one in my family basically that likes the Little Debbie brownies, and everything else thinks that they’re gross. Am I crazy?

What Happened in December?

• The main thing in December was Christmas! Although I didn’t get to go visit relatives due to some sickness going around, I had a fun Christmas with my family!
• My mom graduated from nursing school as well this month.
• I did a lot of baking, decorating, and crocheting this month!
• For Christmas, I got a notebook from my sister, and I have started to write another book! It is a contemporary novel, and maybe I will write a post about it soon.
• Now, I’ve started planning out my January and 2023.

That’s all for today! How was your December? Do you have anything exciting going on in January? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Check out for a post next week for a yearly wrap-up and an overview of my 2023!

Merry Christmas // A Christmas Poem

Hello and merry Christmas, everyone! How is your Christmas day going?

I am having a lovely day so far, just relaxing and spending time with my family. I am not going to do a big post for today (and I’m not sure I’ll post anything tomorrow) but I thought that I’d pop in here and wish everyone a joyous Christmas day!

I also decided to share a little poem, written by my younger self. Keep in mind that I was probably about seven or eight when this was written and I didn’t know a lot about poem writing, so it’s definitely not the best, but I just wanted to share something about the true meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate this lovely season. Enjoy!

When fall is gone, and winter’s here,

I know Christmas is very near.

We put up the tree, and light the lights,

Whose soft glow looks so pretty in the dark night.

On Christmas morning, you may see

Many gifts under the tree.

But, make sure not to forget:

The reason of Christmas is not the gifts.

Jesus was born on Christmas night.

In a world full of darkness, He became our light!

This is a beautiful thing to remember. Sure, presents are exciting, and baking cookies are fun, and all of these festivities seem to spread the joy of Christmas.

But, what are we really celebrating? Jesus’ birth! The coming of our Savior! To me, that is more exciting, more joyful than anything else. Just something to reflect upon.

Merry Christmas again; I hope your day is full of love, peace, and joy, family and friends!

Five Last-Minute Gift Ideas: Collab With Diamond!

Hello, and welcome back to Books and Hooks! I hope that your week is off to a good start. ☺

This post is a collaboration with Diamond from “I Have 12% of a Plan”! She reached out to me last month, asking if I wanted to do a collab with this amazing idea, and I gladly agreed. I would really recommend checking out her blog, and her five last-minute gift ideas for this holiday season!

With Christmas quickly approaching this weekend, some people may be hurrying to finish making and buying gifts for their friends and family members. I know what it’s like…hurrying to come up with gift ideas, finishing up and wrapping the gifts just days before Christmas comes. For that reason, today’s post is a list of five last-minute gifts, featuring four handmade/homemade gifts made from things many people have around their house, along with one store-bought gift idea!

I couldn’t choose between this image and the one above, so I decided to incorporate them both! Which is your favorite?

1: Baking mix

Is there someone who loves baking in your life? Why not gift them a homemade baking mix? If you have some basic ingredients, you will be able to make a lovely, thoughtful gift that the recipient will enjoy baking! What’s even better? Your homemade baking mix will look great in a jar, maybe with a festive ribbon tied on the top!

To make a baking mix, just layer all of the dry ingredients from a certain recipe into a jar, so that the person receiving this gift will be able to add the other ingredients and quickly whip up a delicious treat! Be sure to give them the baking instructions! Here are four different cake mixes that look amazing, and there are also many recipes online for all types of cakes, brownies, and cookies that you can find online!

2: Decorated mug

I know I’m not the only one who loves receiving personalized gifts, and I’m not the only one who loves warm drinks, such as coffee and tea. This gift idea incorporates the two: personalized decorated mugs! Decorating mugs is a really fun thing to do, and it’s something that many people will appreciate being gifted with.

All you need is a plain cup (white works best with darker markers) and some oil-based sharpies. To decorate your mug, you will draw/write your design on your clean mug, and then bake it in the oven for a little while to set the ink. Here is a helpful, detailed post with full instructions.

3: Playdough

Is there a child who you are trying to make a gift for? I don’t know about you, but playdough was always a super fun gift when I was a kid. I recently learned that homemade playdough is very easy to make at home, as well. It is made with some very basic kitchen ingredients. Check here for a detailed recipe!

4: Bookmark

Any reader knows how difficult it is to keep track of bookmarks. It seems like they just go missing out of nowhere! That’s why this is an amazing gift idea, perfect for any reader. Here are eight different ways to make bookmarks! You can check out that post, and make whatever ones you have the materials for!

5: Kits/sets

Do you have time to run to a store before Christmas? Maybe you are just going to the Dollar Tree, but you want to buy something meaningful for a person you love. One good gift idea is a gift set/kit. Are you trying to come up with a gift for your friend who has a specific hobby? Maybe they like art or baking?

For example, several years back, I was at Dollar Tree and still hadn’t bought something for one of my friends. I was contemplating what to buy when my mom had a good idea to buy things to make an art/school set. I bought a pencil pouch, some pencils and pens, colorful markers, cute erasers, and some glitter glue.

If your friend likes to bake, maybe buy some cake mix, cute muffin papers, a potholder…there are a lot of directions this can go. Some ideas are a baking set, an art set, a spa set, or anything related to their hobbies or interests.

That’s it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it and got some good ideas for gifts for your friends and family! Do you procrastinate when getting gifts? Were these helpful? Do you have any more last-minute gift ideas? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Again, be sure to check out Diamond’s blog, and her post with five more last-minute gift ideas. I hope everyone has an amazing week. Bye for now!

Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2022

Hello everybody!

Today, I’m here with a wrap-up for the lovely month of November. Let’s just get right into it!

The Books I Read

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was my first book of the month. I took a bit of time to read it, as with the Lord of the Rings series, but I liked it very much.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson was my second read. This one was amazing! My sister read it before me, and she loved it. I thought she was hyping it up too much, but she was not! I loved the mystery elements a lot, so this one is easily a five-star read for me.

The Midnight Dancers by Regina Doman was my final book of the month. I previously read Doman’s other books in the Fairytale Retold series and loved them, and I liked this one a lot. It might be my favorite of the series, but it’s hard to tell. They are great Catholic fiction. Five stars!

Crochet Projects

This month, my main crochet projects have been little things, such as keychains, hats, and other small projects! I’ve also started on some Christmas gifts! 😁

Blog Posts on “Books and Hooks”

The Reader Problems Book Tag

Sunflower Crochet Keychain Pattern

A Random Saturday In My Life

I Finished Draft Two of my Novel + New Posting Schedule

What’s Your WIP Writing Tag: Dystopian Novel

Reviewing November’s Goals

Finish the second draft of my dystopian book. (Write 2,000 words a day.) As y’all probably know, if you’ve read my past couple of posts, yes, I did finish it! I’m super happy about that! I wrote every day for the first…maybe half of the month? Then, I took a small break before going back through it for a third time. I’m probably going to put this project aside for a little while, while I take a small break from writing. I’ll also be planning out the second book in this duology soon, too!

Run 10 miles. No, I didn’t get around to this. I think I went on two or three runs. For some reason, I find it harder to run in the cool weather, so getting out there in the winter is a bit of a struggle. I still love running, though! I might go on a run tomorrow, too, and it’s still not the end of November, so…

Go on a walk every day. I did this successfully for about the first half of the month, and then I started missing some days. Overall, though, I think this was pretty successful!

Re-decorate the walls around my bed. Yup! I just took down some pictures and put up new ones, and my sister and I put up some hanging fairy lights!

Start getting up early and make a schedule. Umm…😅 Not really.

Less screen time. I don’t feel like I went on screens any less, but also not really any more than before.

Drink more water. I think so!

Plan and schedule posts for the month in advance. I feel like I wrote more posts in advance this month, which I’m happy about, so yes!

Try out a new bread recipe each week. I did this for the first three weeks, and I made some Italian bread the first week, whole wheat bread the second, and for the third week, I made some French bread! I didn’t make any for the final week with Thanksgiving and all, because I had a lot of baking as it was. I did make rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner so I think that that almost counts.

Goals for December

Go to bed by ten each night.

Bake some Christmas cookies.

Complete my reading goal.

Practice the piano every day and learn some Christmas songs.

Make a Christmas music playlist.

Go thrift shopping.

Get some more yarn.

Decorate for Christmas.

Pictures From my Month

I like how the lighting in this one turned out!

Italian bread! 😋 I didn’t get photos of the other ones, because my siblings devoured them to quickly!

I love this book! It did annoy me not knowing who was who, but it was also great, and I loved finding everything out!

I made some cheesy bread sticks twice this month, and they were amazing! Recipe here. (Definitely recommend!!!)

Reading + rainy days are the best!

Broccoli from our Thanksgiving! It was so good!

And, our pumpkin and cherry pies!

Here’s the cherry pie! My brother made it, and I did the lattice topping. It turned out super yummy.

My dessert plate! I should have also taken a pic of my dinner plate, but everything was too good!

Peppermint mocha. ☕ Yum!

And last, but certainly not least, my sister’s and my book tree! I love how it turned out!

What happened in November?

• November was a pretty good month, but I don’t feel like a lot happened!
• I got sick. Mostly just an annoying cough, though, which wasn’t fun, but not too bad either.
• I mostly got a lot of walks in and wrote a lot, at least in the begining of November. I loved going on a walk, and thinking about the book a lot, then coming back to write.
• We also had a great Thanksgiving, with a lot of yummy food.
• On Friday (Nov 25) we got a Christmas tree! My family always goes and hunts for one, which is actually pretty fun.

That will be all for my November wrap-up!

How was your November? What fun plans do you have for the upcoming month? Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you are all having a good start to your week, and I hope you have a good week until I’m back on Monday!

See you later! Bye!

~ Rebekah

P.S. Please comment with any winter/Christmas related posts you’d like to see on my blog!