Happy New Year’s Eve and Goodbye 2021 🥺 🥳 Top 21 books of 2021, stats and more! 🥰

Hello lovelies and Happy New Year’s Eve! 🥰

This is the customary “how is it December 31st already??” but…I still can’t believe how quickly time flies. This year was very weird, special, exciting and overwhelming but the best part is that I connected with so many people within the book community and I will always be grateful for that. So to anyone who has ever liked, commented or visited my little corner of the internet, thank you so much! I really appreciate you ❤️.

2021 Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! 📚🥰

Hello lovelies! 🥰

It’s here! My favorite tag of the year is finally here! 🥳 I love watching videos, posts, pictures, etc. of the Mid-year Book Freak Out tag and I finally sat down and wrote mine!

This photo represents what I’ve been doing: forever reaching for a new book.

Here are a few stats: 
I have read 53 books out of my goal of 70, which means that I am 15 days ahead of schedule. 
Last year I managed to read 57 books in the year. I am such a slow reader and these 53 books are really a huge achievement for me! 🥳

In 2020, I didn't really have all-time favourite books or books I was obsessed with, whereas in 2021, I have discovered so many new authors and so many amazing books which pleasantly surprised me (but let's not get ahead of ourselves). 
The 53 books make a total of 18 432 pages, which is mind-blowing if you think about it 🤯. 

So, without further ado, let's dive into my 2021 mid-year book freak out tag! 🥰

Favourite posts from last month and blogger shoutouts! 💕

Hello lovelies!

I wanted to share my posts from last month on my January wrap-up but I completely forgot to do so. Instead of editing the January post I thought I would dedicate a post on my favourite posts and shoutout some bloggers who I genuinely like. The book community is lovely and I’m so happy to be a part of it with so many amazing bloggers and content out here; it always makes me thrive to do better.

Favourite posts from January

• the orang-utan librarian wrote All the Positives with Negative Reviews! I thought the post was very insightful and eye-opening. There’s an endless debate about negative reviews and I hadn’t thought of all the benefits there were from reading/writing negative reviews so I really liked this post!
• CW @ THE QUIET POND published Our Friend is Here! An Interview with Dustin Thao, Author of You’ve Reached Sam – On His Debut, Kimi No Na Wa, and His DVPit Journey. This author’s interview was so wholesome and also made me discover You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao which is now considered as one of my most anticipated book releases of the year! The Book is described as Your Name meets If I stay and if it doesn’t make you want to read this book, what more do you need?
• Phoenix @Books with Wings did her January Wrap up and it is one of the most unique Wrap-Ups ever! She does this wonderful thing where she gives awards to her favourite books or characters of the month and it is so original!
• Jess // Comfort Reads Book Blog wrote New Book Releases | February 2021. I love how inclusive her post is and this is one of my go-to for upcoming books! If you want to add books to you ever-growing TBR this is just the post for you!
• Quinn @pagesofquinn showed her beautiful 2021 Reading Journal Set-Up. I recently started a reading journal and I really love what she did with hers! It’s really inspiring.

Blogger shoutouts:

Meghan @Whimsically Meghan is the most supportive person ever! Even when I wasn’t a 100% involved in my blog and was trying to figure out how I would manage it, Meghan was always so nice and kind. She always commented on my posts and encouraged me and I am eternally grateful for her!

CHERELLE  @A BOLT OUT OF THE BOOK has one of the most beautiful blogs ever! Not only is her design stunning but she also has the best reviews and general content! I’m always looking forward to reading her posts.

erin @ Reading On A Star. I love how simple Erin’s blog is but everything falls into place and makes her content unique; I love her reviews, authors interviews and tags! I love all the books she talks about in her blog, and I also check out her blog for recommendations.

ahaana @ Windows to Worlds writes the most wonderful book reviews! I love the way they’re structured and how simple they are! They’re always nice to read and I really enjoy them!

SOFII @ A BOOK. A THOUGHT. pours so much into her blog and her content is so rich. I love interacting with her and she always puts a smile on my face. I cannot recommend her blog enough.

Rachelle Saint Louis @ Educated Negra. Rae is one of a kind. I love everything she does and I’m so grateful we’re actually friends. I love how she puts forth Black joy and shows Middle Grade books which is not a genre I read a lot of.

Noura @ THEPERKSOFBEINGNOURABLOG. She always reads the most amazing, inclusive books and I love all of her content! I especially like her weekly reading blogs because she always motivates me to read so much more!

LEYANIS @ THEBLOGGERANDTHEGEEK has it all! Her content is lovely, her blog is aesthetically pleasing and I just genuinely love all of her content! The fact that she’s a fellow aquarius makes it all better.

That’s it folks! Thank you for reading as always!

Blogmas Day #19 – Some of my favourite posts!

Hello lovelies!

Welcome to Day #19 of blogmas!

I found  KRISTIN @ KRISTIN KRAVES BOOKS shares her favourite blog posts of the week and I thought that it was a lovely idea! So without further ado, I’m going to share some of my favourite posts of the week!

Cherelle has shared the 5 books she wants to squeeze in before 2020 ends. I love seeing people’s TBR and I love Cherelle’s list! She has so many interesting books on here and I can’t wait to read what she thinks about them 🙂

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Rukky wrote a discussion post on Reading and Blogging: How they Affect Writing and it’s such an interesting and rich piece that really made me think and I thank her for that.

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Azrah wrote a post on how she annotates her books! I used to be very strict and stressed about keeping my books as pristine as ever but I’m slowly appropriating them and I think this post was very insightful.

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 Kirsten published a post where she shared her excitement for the new Shadow and Bone tv show teaser and I was so happy to see people felt as excited as I was!

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Anika shared her cosy essentials for a lazy morning in winter and the *vibes* were immaculate so I thought I’d share the love!

That’s it for this post, I hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did and see you tomorrow for a new blogmas article!

Karla xx

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2020!

Hello lovelies!

I am kind of late for this tag, but technically the month of June was part of the first half of the year, so the books I read in June count on my challenge and rules are made to be broken.

1. HOW MUCH HAVE YOU READ?

I have never been ahead of schedule ever!! With quarantine I have purchased a lot of books, but thankfully I have been reading a lot as well!

2. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING?

I have tried stepping out of my comfort zone a little at the beginning of the year, but I have read a lot of fantasy and romance! I have been reading much more and even tried reading every day for a while.

3. BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

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Yes, I’m going to cheat and I’m going to include multiple books, because once again rules are made to be broken. (I don’t know why I repeatedly say this since I usually follow rules haha).

TOP 5 TUESDAY – TOP 5 REASONS I RATE A BOOK 5 STARS

Hello Lovelies!

Here’s my weekly Top 5 Tuesday hosted by the wonderful Shannah @Bionic Bookworm Blog (go check out her blog; it’s amazing!). I am extremely excited for this week’s topic! I never really sat down and thought about what makes me give a book 5 star; I always thought that I just “followed my heart” but I actually managed to find 5 reasons why I rate a book 5 stars.

It has the “feels” aka it pulls at my heartstrings

The “feels” is the only good word that I came up with to how convey how much I love when a book pulls at my heartstrings; a book that is going to break my heart one way or another. I don’t really know how to explain that feeling but there are moments and passages that I read that are too deep, too raw that they affect me physically. And the fact that words have such power, keeps on astonishing me. So when that phenomenon occurs I know that it is a 5 stars book right away. It is almost like pinpointing the moment you start falling in love with someone.

19 Favourite Books of 2019

Happy New Year lovelies!

May you accomplish everything you want, may you have health, success, love (in any form) and read wonderful books!

I think 2019 was my favourite reading year yet. I have read books that have truly shaken me to my core, made me laugh and cry, made me wish the story never ended and for that I am grateful. I am going to share my list and explain in a few words why I loved them.

SUMMER WRAP UP/ FAVORITES

Just like the month of August, my summer holidays are coming to an end, and I’m going back to school tomorrow. I thought it would be fun to recap everything I liked, read and watched this summer! Here it goes:

July Wrap Up!

Hello everyone!

I can’t believe we’re already in August; time seems to fly by more quickly as we grow older…Anyway, let’s stop with my philosophy and let’s dive into this post!

I can’t say I’ve had the best reading month ever because I was in a reading slump which lasted two good weeks but I’ve thankfully pulled through!

20 Questions Book Tag

Hello everyone!

I saw this book tag on @ A Little Haze Book Blog and it seemed like a fun tag so I decided to give it a try.

1. How many books are too many in a series?

I feel like 4 or 5 books are enough in a series otherwise you barely recognise the characters a-because they evolved so much and the plot drags on unnecessarily. However, if the writing is spectacular and you really get attached to the characters, I feel like you can have more books in a series. The perfect example of that would be Harry Potter where each book brings something to the grand finale in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

2. How do you feel about cliffhanger endings?

I have a love-hate relationship with them haha. If the next book is out then it’s fine but if I have to wait a year or so it makes me quite angry because I’m so impatient. It’s also a good sign and that means I’m invested in the plot enough to care!

3. Hardback or paperback?

My bank account says Paperback but my heart says Hardback.

4. Favourite book?

I say it all the time and by now you must know but it’s Just One Day by Gayle Forman. A must-read!

5.  Least Favourite book?

I don’t remember reading such a terrible book that it’s my least favourite but I remember strongly disliking Paper Towns by John Green.

6. Love triangles: yes or no?

When I started reading YA, love triangles were my favourite trope (The Vampire Diaries, Twilight…). But as I grow older I’m not so fan of the idea…

7. The most recent book you couldn’t finish?

I avoid DNF’ing books because I get frustrated by myself and try to finish them even if they’re terrible. However I cannot get myself to pick up Jane Eyre, I don’t know why….I’m going to give it another try though.

8. A book you’re currently reading?

I’m currently still reading Becoming by Michelle Obama and it’s just as incredible as I thought it would be! It’s taking me some time to read but I’m really enjoying it.

9. Last book you recommended?

It was the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout! It’s a great series, all the books are incredible, entertaining and gripping and it features a fellow bookworm and sexy aliens. What more do you need?