Tag: black and bookish

Bookish

BLACKATHON TBR!!

India
Hi everyone and welcome back to my channel. My name is India and today we are going to be doing my TBR for Blackathon, which started at the beginning of the month, but that I’m finally getting up now. If you’ve been following me on twitter then you know that I had a difficult time getting some of these books and went ahead and started reading some other books. Let me know what you’re  reading during this challenge!
I’m really excited about this read a thon because it is centered around books written by black authors and/or books with black main characters. This read a thon is hosted by Francina Simone over at Francina Simone, Lauren over at The Novel Lush, and Jessie over at Bowties and Books. They have decided to do this with reading challenges to help pick out your books and to force you to try to read more diversely, which I think is awesome! I know that I’ve picked way too many books for this read a thon and probably won’t get to a lot of them, but I decided to aim high. It also gives me a lot of variety to read, so I can go from book to book. What are some of the books that you’re reading? Below are some of the books that I have chosen as well as a couple that I have read and loved that fit into the categories
1. FEEL THE LOVE. Read a book (any genre) featuring romance between two black people (or one black person + a person of color).
An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
Recommend A Princess Theory, by Alyssa Cole
2. WAKANDA FOREVER Read a graphic novel or comic series with a black or African MC
Kindred, Octavia Butler
3. HEAR US ANY work by a Black or African author
Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jacksonn
Let’s Talk About Love, Claire Kann
Black Enough, Anthology by multiple authors
Well Read Black Girl, Anthology by multiple authors
4. FEEL THE BEAT. Spoken word: listen to these 4 poems and share your favorite on social media or with a friend. Discuss what this poem means to you and why it matters.
Balaenoptera by Joshua Brandon Bennett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9TWj…
What I’ve Learned by Aja Monet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8byI7…
“Waiting” by Jasmine Mans, Alysia Harris, and Jennah Bell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgxU7…
Cuz He’s Black by Javon Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Wf8…
5. MORE THAN A COLOR. We house complexity within us. Read a book starring an intersectional black character (black & LGBT, black & neurodivergent, black & disabled, etc)
Let’s Talk About Love, Claire Kann
Recommend: Odd One Out by Nic Stone, Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert
6. IN THIS TOGETHER Read the group book with us! Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Bookish

Favorite Reads of 2018!!

India

This post is a long time coming and for some reason I just haven’t put it up on my blog. It has been placed on my youtube channel and you can also watch it down below. These books were some of my favorite reads from 2018. I tried to only pick 5 because I read a lot of good books last year and I didn’t just want to gush about all of the books I read during the year. I still kind of cheated though as I made it into two videos. One video for favorites and one video for favorite romance and contemporaries. As someone who self proclaimed as a fantasy reader, I was surprised at the amount of romance and contemporary that I read during 2018, especially towards the end of the year. Anyway, let’s get down to this list, starting with my favorite reads of 2018! None of these books are in any particular order.

My Favorite YA Fantasy books of 2018:

  1.  Three Dark Crowns, Kendare Blake
  2. Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
  3. Tower of Dawn, Sarah J Maas
  4. Kingdom of Ash, Sarah J Maas
  5. An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir

A lot of these books I’ve talked about through out the year, and some of them I have reviews up on my youtube channel of. I will link those above, and I talk about some of these books a lot more in the video!

Next up are my favorite my favorite Contemporaries of 2018:

  1. The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang
  2. The Proposal, Jasmine Guillroy
  3. Dumplin, Julie Murphy
  4. Intercepted, Alexa Martin
  5. Curing Doctor Vincent, Renea Mason
  6. Odd One Out, Nic Stone

I kind of cheated on this list and added in a sixth just because I felt like all of these needed to be talked about.

 

What were some of your favorite books of 2018, or maybe you’ve already read some books in 2019 that have blown your mind! Let me know what you’ve been reading because I’m always looking for something new to add to my shelves! Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

Bookish

Do you have to be a writer to be on Booktube?

India
The short answer to this is no. No you do not, but you’re looking at this post for a reason. It’s because you see so many of your favorite booktubers talking about writing their first book, trying to find a publisher, “querying” – whatever in the world that means- , and getting an editor and so many more things. You see them getting excited to be a part of the world that you love so much in a different aspect. You see them becoming the hyped book that you want to add to the top of your TBR list. But where does that make you fit? It makes you just like the rest of us. Readers! Readers and critics and free media advertising for your favorite booktubers. Now, I’m not a writer by any means, and I’m pretty sure there are probably so many grammatical errors in this post alone, and it’s because of all of those things I know that I don’t want to be a writer. So don’t let those writing marathon thingys – looking at you NaNoWriMo – convince you that you need to try it out.
Don’t get caught up in the authortube or the how to write your first book videos if you don’t want to be a writer. For some people that’s going to make you anxious thinking that, well if I want to grow in this community I have to be writing a book, and that’s not true! Without readers, writers would have nothing and be nothing, so don’t be afraid to just be a reader. That’s all I am! I read and I enjoy reading! Maybe I’m writing this post to convince myself of that even though in my heart of hearts I know I don’t want to be a writer, and I’ve never wanted to be a writer.
Forever a reader
I guess what I’m saying is that it’s okay to just be a reader and never ever want to write your own book. It’s okay to want to be a consumer and to take the time to read a book. If you want to be a reviewer it’s okay to be a reviewer for pleasure and it’s okay to be a critical reader.  You get to make those decisions for yourself and always chose what makes you happy. I hope this helps to keep you true to what you want to do and not make you feel like you need to be anywhere else, but on Booktube as a reader. Has booktube ever made you feel like you need to change?  Until next time,
Keep turning the pages
India
Bookish, Unboxings

Unboxing Booktube | September Owlcrate Box

India

The September Owlcrate box was filled with a lot of mischievous items going with their theme of Masters of Disguise! You can subscribe to the Owlcrate box by clicking here to be apart of their subscription list. It is a more affordable box compared to a lot of other boxes if you live in the United States. Now let’s get into this box!

 

  • We got a beautiful, purply, bath soak created by Leeloo Soaps inspired by The Diabolic, which I have not read yet, but it is definitely on my list and on my bookshelves already!
  • These Crow Club gloves to help pick any and all locks and to create the most intricate plans in the streets of Ketterdam created by Team Owlcrate
  • A wonderful Ceramic Mug featuring our favorite mauraders from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkban and was illustrated by Cara Kozik
  • An apple mint lip balm inspired by The Kiss of Deception, which I also haven’t read yet, created by Geek Fire Labs
  • An art print featuring Lila Bard from the Shades of Magic series illustrated by Kirsty Carter

 

Finally the book with it’s gorgeous cover is Mirage by Somaiya Daud! This book is all about a young girl who is kidnapped and forced to be in the royal palace because she looks like the princess that everyone hates. With her life constantly on the line as she impersonates the princess in public settings she has to be extremely careful, so that she does not get killed. This book is also apparently set in a sci-fi situation so it’s kind of like some of my other favorite books, so I’m excited to read it.

Mirage by Somaiya Dayd

This book featured a lot of great items of course the mug being one of them and I can’t wait to use that bath soak!! Let me know what you thought about the box! You can also watch my full unboxing here! Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India

Bookish, Unboxings

August 2018 Owlcrate Ruthless Royals

India
August Ruthless Royals Box

Another month has passed and of course that means another unboxing. I’m as usual super late to getting this to my blog, but here it is! This months box was themed “Ruthless Royals” and featured a lot of items from different books that featured a kingdom where the royal court might have some ruthlessness in it.

👑 A tin inspired by The Cruel Prince featuring artwork with many different quotes from the book. It was designed by @stellabookishart!👑 A s pocket mirror with pouch, inspired by The Belles! Designed by @catarinabookdesigns.
👑 A set of three magnetic bookmarks handmade by @craftedvan featuring three different evil queens from Disney, which have both their normal selves and their alter ego
👑 A kitchen towel inspired by Throne of Glass and designed by the amazing @littleinklingsdesign!
👑 An agate ring from @geocentral. We sent out a whole bunch of different color gems!
👑 Collectible monthly pin and postcard illustrated by @spykles!
👑 The book for August was Grace and Fury by @tracythewriter! It has an exclusive cover that I like a lot more than the original. I started to read it a little bit, but it just wasn’t what i wanted to read at the time.

I recorded my unboxing, which I will link here and below as well! What did you think of this box? Have you read this book?! Let me know! Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India