Welcome to day 19 of Blogmas!! This month is FLYING BY and Christmas is only a few days away!!
The Goodreads Choice Awards 2021 results came in and I wanted to talk about the results, who I voted for and what I think of the winners in the following categories: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult Fiction, Debut Novel, Graphic Novels & Comics and Young Adult Fantasy.
I’m really happy about the number of diverse books that were nominated this year. It truly shows a shift in the books that people are paying attention to and the voices that are being uplifted. However, I must express my disappointment over the fact that the same authors seem to win all the time, which isn’t to say that they don’t deserve it but it’s a shame that in the end there is no real change.
I decided to try and read more books in 2021 (at least 70!). Even though I still use Goodreads, I thought it would still be nice to write things down myself and see the evolution of my reading on paper. I’m not really good at crafts and drawing but I still tried my best and I thought I would show some of the spreads here, so here goes nothing.
First, you can see my cover pages. I tried to use some stickers I had and a lot of Black paper. I really like the way the color looks on the pages so I used it a lot. I included some of my favourite quotes ever from Crooked Kingdom, and ACOTAR.
Okay so this page isn’t the best but I tried my best. *Smiles through the pain*. I like the fact that I can draw the cases in and feel a sense of accomplishment everytime I finish a book. On the second page, I plan on printing my favourite book of each month and have a nice visual image by the end of the year.
I’m a sucker for stats and I like the idea of seeing how many physical, audio or ebooks I read.
This is my favourite page! I’m really indecisive and I taught it would be nice to let fate decide which book I would read next. The yellow page is for my ebooks TBR and the right page is for the physical books on my TBR.
I also like this page to see the amount of books I purchased and a nice reminder of my 2021 reading goals.
This is also a nice visual spread of the books I read in the year. I really like the colour and it is motivation for me to keep reading and getting out of slumps.
On the left there are the 21 books i want to read in 2021 (I might make a post on that) and on the right side are my most anticipated releases of the year!
This is my January spread; I tried to go for a “Rory Gilmore/ (dark) academia vibes” theme but it turned out to be a little bit of a mess; oh well.
I took inspiration mostly on Pinterest and by the queen herself on Journal With Chloe on Youtube check out her page if you don’t already know her!):
So I hope you enjoyed this disaster and I’ll see you soon!
I am back with a Goodreads Monday tag! Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it!
TW: sexual assault.
Title: Know My Name, a memoir
Author: Chanel Miller
Synopsis from Goodreads: She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford’s campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral–viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time. Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways–there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life. Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.
Why I want to read it
First I want to read more non-fiction books in 2021 and second I feel like this book is extremely important because it gives a voice to victims of sexual assault. I love how she’s trying to reclaim her story and how brave she is. She is an inspiring woman and I’m so sorry somethings as awful as her assault happened to her and I also cannot imagine how awful the victim blaming was on top of everything. This book also reflects how society protects abusers and blames the victim and we have to make it stop at our own scale and if there’s anything we can do it’s at least read this story.
Why I haven’t read it yet
I think this book will be triggering in some aspects but if Chanel Miller was brave enough to write her story, the least I can do is read it.
Did you read this? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
I am back with a Goodreads Monday tag! Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it.
Title: The Poppy War
Author: R.F Kuang
Synopsis: (Goodreads)
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
WHY I WANT TO READ IT
I recently joined book twitter and everyone, and I mean everyone said to read this book. I would be a fool to ignore that advice especially since I haven’t seen a single bad review about this one yet. The synopsis seems really promising and exactly the kind of story I enjoy reading.
WHY I HAVEN’T READ IT YET
I want to reach my Goodreads challenge by the end of the month by reading shorter books so I can dedicate the rest of the year reading bigger books and taking my time with them. I want to savor every single page of this promising book.
Have you read it yet? What did you think? Let me know in the comments! 🙂
I am back with a Goodreads Monday tag! Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it!
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out. • Ride a motorcycle. • Go camping. • Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. • Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. • And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
I am back with a Goodreads Monday tag! Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it!
Title: Clap When You Land
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Summary (Goodreads):
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people… In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance – and Papi’s secrets – the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. Papi’s death uncovers all the painful truths he kept hidden, and the love he divided across an ocean. And now, Camino and Yahaira are both left to grapple with what this new sister means to them, and what it will now take to keep their dreams alive. In a dual narrative novel in verse that brims with both grief and love, award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it!
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Summary (Goodreads): About three things I was absolutely positive.First, Edward was a vampire.Second, there was a part of himand I didn’t know how dominant that part might bethat thirsted for my blood.And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.
General ration on Goodreads: 3,59/5 stars (which is surprising for a book so popular)
Published: September 6th 2006 by Little, Brown and Company
Hello lovelies and welcome to the first Monday of the year!
Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it!
Author: Louisa May Alcott
Synopsis: Grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. The four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war, and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another. Whether they’re putting on a play, forming a secret society, or celebrating Christmas, there’s one thing they can’t help wondering: Will Father return home safely? (Amazon summary)
Hello lovelies! Last post of the year! How quickly it went by…I am very excited for the New Year and everything it will bring. I am ready to start over! Hope you will all have an amazing year. In the meantime, here are my reading goals for 2020!
Read 50 books
This year I have managed to read 45 books and it’s pretty good but I want to read more and more consistently! So here’s to hoping I read 50 books in 2020.
Read more French and English classics
This is something I really wanted to do for a while. As a girl who will major in English Literature I feel like this is almost a given. There are so many great classics out there and I really want to read them this year!
Post more reviews
I started truly getting serious about my blog during the summer and it reminded me of how much I like to share my thoughts on books and discuss my favourite, quotes, characters and plots!
How does one begin with such a wonderful book? I always think it’s ironic how words fail me when I need to convey how amazing a book was. I wish I had Henry’s gift with words.
Title: Red, White and Royal Blue
Author: Casey McQuiston
Summary: When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. (Goodreads)
Anotherbookworm 