Tag: books

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, 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

July 2018 Litjoy Crate Unboxing

India

This box was a lot of fun and stayed true to theme! This sci-fi box titled, Warriors of the Stars, is filled with items from some of the classic science fiction adventures, including Star Wars and Marvel’s: Guardians of the Galaxy. Sci-fi is not my favorite genre to read, but I did really enjoy the Illuminae Files Series and I believe if you liked that you will like Sanctuary! There’s a list of items below, and you can find my full unboxing on my Youtube Channel!

 

  • A SIGNED COPY and LitJoy exclusive art of The Young Adult novel: Sanctuary by Caryn Lix
  • Lunar Chronicles Trading Cards (Lihn Cinder and Queen Levana)
  • Firefly quote full-size pillow. “I’m a leaf in the wind, watch how I soar”.  Cuddle up with your pillow and start reading!
  • Guardians of the Galaxy cross body tote bag. “I’m Mary Poppins y’all” This is perfect to wear to transport your favorite reads on the go!
  • Cute Groot cube art holder This mini Cute Groot weighted photo clip is perfect for displaying all of your LitJoy prints!
  • Star Wars “Rebel Scum” enamel pin.  Just as Star Wars had its Rebel Resistance, Sanctuary has its rebel prisoners! Now wear your “Rebel Scum” pin with pride!
  • “Take Me To Your Reader” bookmark.  Enjoy marking the pages of Sanctuary’s alien invasion with this punny bookmark!
  • Aloy Print.  Many of the descriptions of the non-corporate parts of Earth reminded us of the post-apocalyptic world where Aloy lives and fights

 

What did you think of this box? The book sounds really good, but a lot of the other items I could have done without. I do love the books that I get in these boxes though because they introduce me to books I probably would have never picked up! Let me know what you think! Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

 

Bookish, Unboxings

July 2018 Owlcrate Unboxing

India

It’s time for another unboxing of my favorite YA Book Box. July’s theme was Strange and Unusual, and it definitely featured some strange and unusual things. I think this was one of the first boxes that I didn’t actually love. It was just filled with some “meh” things. Art prints, stickers, and a small keychain. To me the best part was the special edition cover of My Plain Jane. I think that the cover was awesome! I now actually have 3 copies of this book and I feel like it’s a sign to read it. Everything is listed out below, and at the bottom you can find my unboxing of all of the items! I posted some pictures of the items on my Instagram, so make sure to check it out!

  • My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton (signed, exclusive OwlCrate Edition)
  • Raven Boys-inspired Wallet (designed by Reverie & Ink)
  • Stranger Things POP Keychain (Funko)
  • Miss Peregrine’s-inspired Felt Pennant Flag (designed by Risa Rodil)
  • Ouija Mystifying Mints (Boston America Corp)
  • Skull Push pins (OwlCrate Original)
  • Luna Lovegood-inspired Vinyl Sticker (designed by TJ Lubrano)
  • Whale Art Print (designed by Aun-Juli Riddle)
  • Exclusive OwlCrate “Skull” Button
  • Exclusive My Plain Jane Author Letter & Thornfield Hall Craft Diorama.

What do you think of this box? Any items you really liked? Have you read My Plain Jane? Feel free to subscribe to my channel where I tend to put these things out a little more consistently. I’m trying I promise! Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

Bookish

How To Bookstagram | DIY Background

India

EEEEEEEEE I’m really excited to do this!! A how to guide!! I never thought I would be in a position to make a how to guide for anything. Well, I’m pretty sure that I’m still not, but I’m going to pretend that I am! I stumbled onto something like this from some photography people that I follow on Youtube, and I was like I feel like I can do this for bookstagram pictures as well. Then BAM! I found myself in Joann’s, dragging Eric through the aisles so that he could hold all the bolts of fabric that I was going to have to choose from. Unfortunately I did not take pictures in between each step, but I did make a video of the whole thing that will be linked here and you can watch it down below.

I used two of my backgrounds to make this picture

Here are a list of things that you’re going to need to make your new, amazing, aesthetic – that’s such a hot word right now, say it slowly aaaeeesssstttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhetic- , cool background.

  1. Canvas size of your choosing – I chose 24″ x 48″ and I explain why in the video
  2. Fabric that fulfills your aesthetic pleasure in a yard and a quarter, I believe
  3. Either spray glue OR a staple gun – obviously spray glue is cheaper, but the staple gun is faster
  4. Scissors

 

If you’re using fabric with lines, remember to keep them straight!

And that’s it! It’s that easy and then you have an awesome portable background that you can use for your bookstagramming/instagramming pleasure. I absolutely love mine and it has been seen in a lot of pictures so far. I’m thinking about venturing into more colorful options next.

Choosing the right background can add extra depth and texture

I don’t know how many parts this “How To Guide” is going to be, but each aspect is going to have its own video, so that you can focus on just the parts that you want to know about. I do not claim to be a bookstagram expert. I don’t have that many followers, and my aesthetic is not aestheticy, but I know I learned some things from watching other people’s videos. I learned some things from trial and error and would like to share what I’ve learned, so you can be the next top bookstagrammer and get all of the book deals. Just don’t forget about me on the way up!

When you want to focus on something specific use plain backgrounds

If you have any questions please ask them in the comments. If you have any suggestions on some videos also let me know! You can see how I use the backgrounds in my more recent instagram pictures, so make sure to follow me there! Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India