Wrap-ups and Tags

Wrap-ups, round-ups and tags.

Wrap-ups and Tags

2018 “Goals”

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Hi everyone,

Not late to the party because you know me, but I finally decided to post my goals for the year.  As a caveat, I don’t usually have goals for the year except my reading challenge (2017 was 100 books and I barely made it, woops), so this is a bit new to me.

1. Reading Challenge of 85 books. As I mentioned above, I struggled to read a 100 so I decided to make this goal a little smaller. I am also aware that last year I had a lot of new things going on that meant I had less time to read. Did you set yourself a number of books to read per year?

My boyfriend says that I read books for myself, him and all the street.

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2. Eat more vegetarian/vegan (not become either, but just do more veg). It’s not too hard since we don’t do much red meat, just chicken and fish, but we need the vegetables. At the moment we are doing relatively well. Last week was mostly vegetarian and even though this week will have meat there are more vegetables in the menu. Go me!

(I have to say I love my slow cooker and adapting recipes for it.)

3. Try to create a bookmark design per month minimum. This one is going a little not so well. I have two designs in the works but they haven’t come out yet. Hopefully I can finish at least one before the end of January. (And of course, we need a colouring bookmark for Valentine’s in February, right?)

4. Collaborate with more book boxes ( is on the dream list, one can dream). Last year I collaborated with Book Box Club and Leafer Box. This year I am already doing well as I have another collaboration with Book Box Club for this month’s box. Fingers crossed other boxes will notice me, right?

5. Go back to drawing and/or writing almost daily. Already failing epically on this one. I haven’t drawn daily or written daily, but I do try, oh well.

6. Write my novel ( didn’t go too well last time). The thing is I have the story plot done and I have a very old (over 10 years) version of it but I want to clear all those plot holes and all the issues and write it “properly”. I also have a few other novels completed but most of them are not in English so they need translation/editing.

 Those are all my loose goals for the year. Did you make any?

Wrap-ups and Tags

2017 Wrap-up: Let’s end the year well

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Hi everyone!

This is a general wrap-up for the year, even if this blog isn’t yet a year old. But I wanted to thank everyone of you that reads it, those of you that leave comments, and the ones that nominate me for awards and tags. Also, to Nikki and Steve who spot the times I forget to add the pictures in time and remind me to add them.

Let’s see what this year has brought around.

I found my bookish partner in crime, Nikki. And we have had some fun adventures like:

  • Going to YALC
  • Perfecting a Sunday Roast and Yorkshire puddings.
  • Visiting The Making of Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour (such a mouthful).
  • Putting up Christmas decorations.
  • Day of the Dead and bookish event by Gollancz.
  • New Year’s Eve

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I have to say, we’re friends thanks to Book Box Club, since we met through there and I am so glad about it. Which brings me to the next one.

I collaborated for three book boxes. Two for Book Box Club (one of them is the January box) and one for Leafer Box. This collaborations then brought me to do some interesting things.

I opened my blog, and I started contacting publishers about ARCs and reviewing books, I joined bookbridgr and I started my bookmark shop. I am not a super popular big blogger but I do enjoy blogging and the friendships I have made. I hope you enjoy reading my posts.

And of course, I have managed to make a 101 post on book boxes, I have had several giveaways on my Twitter (which is also a new thing) (the last one runs out today!)

Made friends with more bookstagrammers (it only took me two years to actually get into the community and not just be in the sidelines with an account that no one saw).

I also managed to snag a delightful Book Advent Calendar, which they launched this year. It still needs a lot of work, but it was a delight to unwrap a book every day after work. (Admire my “book tree” making abilities which are zilch).

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All books came as part of the book advent calendar and are more or less in order, top first days, bottom last few days.

And not only that but this Christmas was the best I have had in about 6 years. It had a few books, a lot of fox themed gifts, too much food, and good company. And it was good. (Also, I have a puppy now which is also a bonus, and a new job that I had been wanting for the last few years).

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Christmas Haul. Left: books I bought myself, Middle: gifts, Rgiht: Book Boxes

2017 has been a good year. Much better than previous ones. A few secret things that will probably be revealed next year are also making me quite happy.

So I just want to thank everyone that reads me, my reviews, my artwork adventures. To those that have bought bookmarks and cheered me on. The ones that have entered my giveaways. All of you friendly people that have made me smile. You all know who you are (if you think you are of them or no you couldn’t be, it is actually probably you).

Thanks for making 2017 a much better year than previous ones.

Here’s to a wonderful 2018 for all of us (now I know bad things happened this year, they did to me too, very much, but I am being positive as much as I can).

Love,

Moon

Wrap-ups and Tags

2017 Wrap-Up: Books to make you think

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The year is ending (much too quickly for my tastes, but oh well), so I have been looking back at this year and the books I’ve read. And this year has been full of books that have made me think a lot, so I will post a quick recommendation of some of them.

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After The Fire, by Will Hill. This is a brutal book, but in a good way.  It is inspired by the Waco Siege and follows Moonbeam as she recovers from a fire in her “commune”. It is chilling and touches on a lot of interesting topics, and thankfully Will does not shy away from writing about bad things, yet it is not horridly done but with good taste.

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Dear Martin by Nic Stone. I read this before THUG and despite how short it is, it was good. Another brutal book on the reality of being black and racism in America.

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Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer. Grief is a very interesting thing and one we all experience in our lives. Brigid does a masterful writing in touching different ways grief comes through and how it affects our lives. Have some tissues at hand.

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If this is a Woman by Sarah Helm. This is not a book that was published this year, but once again, another brutal read about how women where treated at the concentration camp of Ravensbruck. It also gives you an insight into WWII that is rare to get.

I would also recommend all books reviewed on here, as they have been amazing reads.

 

Wrap-ups and Tags

The Sunshine Blogger Award

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Oh look, look, the lovely Helen (my ‘how to win giveaways for books you already own’ understudy, a.k.a. Moon’s understudy) from Watching Sparks Reviews has surprised me and tagged for a blogger award! She’s such a dear, thank you so much!
PS. I think she got confused, I am Moon not Sunny, but don’t tell her, I like awards and being nominated and she’s so sweet… (so go check out her blog, it’s full of books). Plus I am very surprised my little blog got this award but thanks lovely, seriously…

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The Rules:

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to bloggers who are creative, positive, and inspiring. Once nominated, the blogger is required to write a post in which they:

  1. Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
  2. Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
  3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
  4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post.

 

Helen’s Questions:

  1. Favourite book when you growing up?
    As a child I really loved “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie”, mine came with the mouse in overalls and it was so cute. But I also loved having mum read books to us and I read a lot so there were several books in my life. As a teenager I got hooked into Madeleine L’Engle’s books and also Anne McCaffrey’s so both have amazing books I loved. And one of my most favourite is The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley.
  2. Which 3 fictional characters are you most like?
    Hermione (Harry Potter Series), Meg Murray (The Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle) and probably Aerin (The Hero and The Crown). All of them are curious, brainy and stubborn, but I also have some of their weaknesses and ideas.
  3. Who would you fancast as your favourite characters?
    I don’t usually fancast characters, so this is hard to answer, I don’t know…
  4. Which book is underhyped, and that you want everyone to read?
    Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer, any book already mentioned above, and After The Fire by Will Hill.
  5. Which book is overhyped, and is really not as good as everyone says?
    SJM books, I tried, I really really tried, but I kept shouting at the books because of the plot and how it was happening, just no. The writing is light easy read but I was too annoyed at everything else I didn’t enjoy them.
  6. What/who inspired you to start blogging?
    I have been writing on and off since I was like 10 years old (I tried to make a murder mystery but didn’t go too well, very predictable, I still have it though). And during my teenage years I had a potter fiction account, a splinder (they were kinda like blogs) with short stories, tried livejournal (didn’t stick to it very well), and finally decided to jump again into blogging this year. I had been musing about the idea for a while, so it’s not something I haven’t done before. Oh and all of those sites and things mentioned before I found on my own.
  7. How long have you been blogging?
    Here, just a few months. Before this I did a private 750words.com and before that I had my splinder for a few years, livejournal for a few months… It’s hard to pick up the trail of all that blogging time…
  8. How many books are on your tbr?
    No idea, I bought two new bookcases a few months back because I had piles of books on the floor, and I made those bookcases my TBR, so, two bookcases worth of books (to be fair, the lowest shelf has cooking books on one of them… doesn’t count for TBR but still).
  9. Do you like to listen to music whilst reading? And if so, do you pick certain artists/songs to match the book?
    Not really, or rather not on purpose. I can read with music in the background it doesn’t bother me, but I don’t decide to have music while I read, I don’t need it.
  10. Which book(s) do you wish you had written?
    Probably all the ones mentioned above. And I am writing a couple, my head is full of ideas and plans and plots. Full of stories. So those too, just wish they were already written by me.
  11. What book did you most recently finish, what are you reading now, and what do you think you’ll pick to read next?
    Warcross was the most recent one I finished, I am reading All The Crooked Saints and I am still unsure what I will pick next, I am undecided between Shadowblack, Dear Martin, A Shiver of Snow and Sky… but then any book could suddenly spark interest for me out of the blue.

I’m Nominating:

Off the top of my head most of the ones I wanted to nominate have already been nominated so to avoid repeats, I nominate you all, but also specifically I nominate:

  1. Nikki (Books and Lemon Squash)
  2. Maja (Bookish Addict)
  3. The girls (Book Box Club)
  4. Marcelina (Lollipop Books)
  5. Briony (Miss Briony)

The next few are twitter people I think deserve a Sunshine award:

  1. Zara (The Story Of Zara)
  2. Sarah (SK Vetter Writes)

My 11 Questions:

  1. Which character would you want to be your best friend? Why?
  2. Who/what inspires you to create/write?
  3. Do you read one book at a time or multitasking?
  4. What book do you think I should read and why?
  5. Which character do you love to hate? Or if you don’t hate one, who is your favourite villain?
  6. Do you cover buy? Why?
  7. If you could move to a bookish world/place, which one would you choose? Why?
  8. Trope/cliche you love?
  9. Trope/cliche you hate?
  10. What is your favourite part about blogging?
  11. Who inspires you the most in your life?

Thanks for the tag Helen, and hopefully you all want to answer the questions, I’d love to read the answers to them.

Wrap-ups and Tags

Moon’s September Round-up

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This is my first round-up but it is not the kind to summarise what I posted, but rather what didn’t make it into a post of their own but is still worth mentioning.

Thank you gift

Someone posted on Facebook about her mug being broken (a mug that had a Sarah J. Maas quote, exclusive to FairyLoot) and I said she could have mine. Thankfully for all her fans I am not a fan. I asked if she could pay shipping but gave the mug away for free. I am a weirdo that likes sending care packages to people so I ended up adding another exclusive Feyre mug and a book and I can’t remember what else. The box took a detour to Canada and finally arrived.

I did this without expecting anything in return so it was a lovely surprise to get this lovely gift. (Also, those Chocolade Kanjers are awesome).

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Ninja Book Box giveaway

I don’t usually win things, but somehow I managed to win a set of bookmarks from Ninja Book Box. They are gorgeous.

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Booklepuff giveaway

Since I became so lucky I also won a small instagram giveaway done by Booklepuff.

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Twitter giveaways

I ended opening a Twitter account to join #BooksBindUs (it’s Maja’s fault, entirely) and ended up winning a copy of Warcross from one of the giveaways. The funny bit is I also got that in a book box and then Marie Lu asked to donate to Puerto Rico and she was sending signed books to donators so I also got one of those. I wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something about Warcross… (it helps I am a gamer and a programmer/engineer).

I also started my own giveaway for a copy of After The Fire by Will Hill (what else would I giveaway, right?). I loved doing this so will probably do more giveaways soon enough.

Book Buddle

Book sleeves are awesome, but I had been quite unlucky in snagging the prints from the shops I wanted and always missed out. So I decided to find all possible ones, see prices and shipping and choose one. Book Buddle had a fox print I wanted so I asked if she (Jules) could make me one in the right size, and ended up being unable to choose between two fabrics and ordering 3 book sleeves.

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Of course, they are so gorgeous and perfect (those moons glow in the dark) that I checked if she could make a ‘book’ sleeve for Petunia. [Caveat: Petunia is my Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet I use for digital artwork, she is a bit petulant so the name came from that and she gives me heart attacks by deciding not to work, or the drivers aren’t right even if they actually are.] The sleeve for Petunia is also delightful and it has a little button to stop her from trying to escape. I cannot recommend Book Buddle enough.

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Other things to note

Merake Candles resupply, because Heather makes some of the best candles I know about.

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I managed to find a fox mug that was a cuteness overload and I had to buy it.

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I also got my hair dyed by Nikki and a different day she helped me learn how to make Yorkshire puddings and a good gravy. Being non British I am slowly mastering the art of a Sunday Roast. I can carve a chicken easily and my veggies are to die for, same as good roast potatoes, but I still forget to make gravy and had never made Yorkies. This was a huge success.

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Clipboard have been a part of my drawing life for quite long. I used to have a very battered very decorated one that had been with me since 2004-2005 but it got lost in one of my many moves. Finally I decided to find a replacement and decorate it. It has been loads of fun, experimenting around and I found out temporary tattoos work well on wood… who knew?

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Last but not least, if you have been following me before this blog was born, you will know who Knit Anele is (if you haven’t, just keep an eye out for the next edition of Meet the Character).

Anyway, when I created her, I always intended to make her superhero dress something in real life to be worn by myself. This had been put in the back burner for ages until this month when I got in contact with a dressmaker (I tried several but only one worked out). It was a lot of fun and we have chosen fabrics so I am very excited about this.

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Subscription Box Tally

So this month I got:

  • Book Box Club
  • FairyLoot
  • LeaferBox x2 in one box
  • Page Habit YA
  • Page Habit Fantasy
  • Spearcraft
  • LitCube
  • YumeTwins

I think this is all for the month of September. I am looking forward to October starting and the lovely things to come.

How was your month?