Debut Authors Bash // An Interview with the lovely Maggie Ann Martin + an INTERNATIONAL Giveaway!!!

Oh hello, let me just squeal for a bit because I’m doing an author interview!

This is only my second author interview EVER but I’m really excited that I got paired up with Maggie Ann Martin!

Her debut novel The Big F came out in August and I read and reviewed it too! It was a super cute and important read and perfect for the summer—but you can also read it this WINTER if you want, duh!

I am part of the HUGE GIGANTIC MASSIVE DEBUT AUTHORS BASH in which all debut authors of 2017 get to have the chance to be featured on someone’s blog!

Feel free to check out the rest of the tour here because it takes place all month and there’s A TON of incredible authors on there!

Now, let’s see what the lovely Maggie has to say!

November Recap // not much reading, even less writing and a huge existential crisis + MY FAV AUTHOR TWEETED ME???

What is reading??? What is writing??? What is blogging??? What is life???

What. Even. Was. November.

I don’t think I’ve ever had such a bad reading month. In the first 3 weeks of November, I didn’t even pick up a single book for myself aka I only forced myself through the four tragic/average/trashy/boring books I had to read for uni.

My poor bookshelves were wailing for my attention, begging me to PLEASE JUST PICK OUT A SINGLE BOOK TO READ WE MISS YOU

But my brain was like NUH-UH you’re doing NaNo, you have to focus on WRITING.

Well, guess who didn’t do any writing either?????? Me.

can i take a nap for the next two months pls

Things got better at the end of the month BUT I’M STILL IN THIS WEIRD FUNK WHERE EVERYTHING I DO IS EXHAUSTING.

I don’t want to make my intro too depressing, but be prepared for an enourmous existentital crisis including lots of crying, exhaustion, flailing of arms and MAYBE a handful of good things that happened to me.

PS. HOW IS IT DECEMBER ALREADY IT’S BASICALLY CHRISTMAS AKA 2018 AKA CAN WE NOT IT’S GIVING ME ANXIETY

4 Reasons why The November Girl should be on your To-Read List // magical realism, romance and quirky characters

After being in kind of a reading/writing/general life slump this month, I was SO stoked that the first book I picked up at the end of November after I got over my struggles had been a great read for me.

Me at the beginning of the month: not in the mood to read ANYTHING, forcing myself through the 3 kinda shitty books I had to read for uni

Me at the end of the month: 4 STARS! 5 STARS! ALL THE STARS! I LOVE READING!

The first book I read this month that WASN’T average or complete garbage (I literally just typed bargage wow) was The November Girl. YASSSSSS.

It’s a book I’ve been really excited for because one of my trusted book reviewers had given it a high rating so I had high hopes! AND THANKFULLY I WASN’T LET DOWN.

Also, I am part of the The November Girl blog tour so I hope you enjoy my stop and make sure to follow the rest of the tour here.

Why Audiobooks are The Most Excellent, Brilliant and Magnificent Invention of the Century……. or are they??? // A Discussion

ERMAGAWD, MY FIRST DISCUSSION POST.

I don’t even know if you can call this a discussion. What even IS a discussion????????

Hennywayssssss.

In July, I finally decided to sign up for Audible after a long long long consideration of whether I needed it or not—and because they had a great deal on Prime Day (5€ a month instead of 10€???? HELLOOOO???).

Since then, I’ve listened to a total of 3 audiobooks. I know, I’m slow and everything.

BUT YES, I NOW CALL MYSELF AN EXPERT ON ALL THINGS AUDIOBOOKS. Or rather, I feel like I’ve formed a solid opinion about audiobooks and I think I can discuss the topic with expertise and wit.

So that’s what’s happening here.

What are the pros and cons of audiobooks? Would I recommend getting an Audible subscription? Or do I absolutely hate them? Are audiobooks the bane of my existence???????? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT.

Mini Reviews: Dear Martin (so impactful!) and Juliet Takes a Breath (so queer!) // two incredibly powerful and diverse books

Guess who’s back with another post about mini-reviews!

I’ve come to really like writing mini reviews because it takes SO MUCH LESS TIME AND EFFORT and it’s quicker to format.

And I also prefer READING mini reviews nowadays for the same reasons! Quick and easy to read through and more options to comment on!

GO MINI REVIEWS.

Today I’ll be talking about two diverse novels who deal with very differing topics, but overall are both incredibly impactful, educational and SO real.

Spoiler alert: I gave both of these books 5 stars.

Fangirl Friday—Concert Edition // Seeing Harry Styles and Banks during my birthday week (yes, that exists!)

THE QUEEN OF FANGIRLING IS BACK.

Oh. My. God.

Who missed Fierce Fangirl Fridays???????

MEEEEEEE.

I feel so bad for neglecting my own meme??? But I don’t really want to fangirl about something EVERY WEEK since my posting schedule is literally two times a week and it’d only leave space for one “original” post and it’s SUCH STRESS BYE.

I also wanted to make some changes to this meme and get rid of the FIERCE because IT’S BEEN BUGGING ME FOR SOOOOOO LONG. But someone else is doing ‘Fangirl Fridays’ so I’ll have to check back with them. We’ll see.

WHAT I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT TODAY IS MY CONCERT EXPERIENCE *dies*

I SAW BANKS AND HARRY STYLES ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF AGO AND I HAVE LOADS TO SAY AND FREAK OUT ABOUT SO BE PREPARED FOR CAPS LOCK AND KEYBOARD SMASH AND NOT MUCH COHERENCE.

October Wrap Up aka the best month of the year!!! // birthday celebrations, some fangirling and SO MANY good books!!!

October has been an absolutely brilliant month for me. I am genuinely just SO HAPPY about everything that’s happened!!!

The first thing that needs to be mentioned is my return to blogging (which I’m still SO excited about!)—I still suck at blog hopping and commenting back on time but things are looking up! And I really enjoy writing blog posts again which is wonderful!

Secondly, I’ve read so many great books this month and I actively tried to read books that I was in the mood for, books on my physical TBR that I’ve been meaning to read for YEARS AKA SIX OF CROWS BITCHEEEESSSSS, and Netgalley ARCs that I’ve been wanting to knock off my shelves!

Thirdly, I’ve done some fantastic prepping and plotting for my novel and I feel ready to tackle NaNoWriMo………. is what I wish I could say. But no. That didn’t happen.

Fourthly (is that even a thing), I went to two concerts which made me SO FREAKING HAPPY and I also feel very happy and confident in general. I had WAY LESS anxiety this month than I had all year and I’m just so HAPPY lately. I’m kicking anxiety’s ass ❤

It’s just been an overall fantastic month and I’m super happy. October has probably been my favourite month all year!

NaNoWriMo Survival Guide // How to be The Most productive and not die of frustration during the holy month of writing!

Oh, look at me—the newbie writer who has never participated in NaNoWriMo before pretends to be an expert at giving writing advice! So reliable!

I am by no means a pro at writing, but I’ve compiled a list of things I want to keep in mind during the holy month of writing—and I thought why not share it with others!

Althrough the orange potato who’s currently in office would probably call this post:

Originally, I wasn’t planning on participating in NaNoWriMo because of my busy uni schedule (and the fact that I’m so new to writing). However, I was infected by the positive energy surrounding NaNo everywhere I looked!

Blogger friends started sharing their ideas for their NaNoWriMo WIPs, everyone and their mother was talking about it on Twitter and my brain wouldn’t let me rest when it came to one of my novel ideas!

SO HERE I AM. READY FOR NANOWRIMO TOMORROW (or as ready as I can be with almost no prepping and plotting done *oops*).

This post is my very own personal NaNoWriMo survival guide aka how to deal with all the stress, emotions, nervous breakdowns, anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks AND MUCH MORE.

If you’re like me, you’ll probably experience all of these things at least 5 times a day during the next couple of weeks of writing—HOW FUN—but you are not alone! Enjoy.

5 Reasons Why YOU Should Read Warcross by Marie Lu RIGHT NOW // EPIC, DIVERSE AND MIND-BLOWING

Have you ever had exceedingly high expectations for a book and then it ended up letting you down???

Oh.

BECAUSE I HAVEN’T. At least not with Warcross.

As we all know, Marie Lu is a freaking LEGEND (hA, get it????!!!?!)* and I had no doubts that I would love Warcross. And boy did I loveit!!!

I decided to switch up my reviewing style for this post and give you 1000 reasons (actually, it’s only 5-ish) why you should read Marie Lu’s Warcross (including loads of Gifs!) to make this post a lot more fun!

There will be no spoilers for the book (as always, but I just thought I’d mention it again) SO KEEP ON READING AND ADD WARCROSS TO YOUR TBR IMMEDIATELY.

*I swear I’ve made that joke like 50 times now kill me

The End of the Year Book Tag // lots of Shatter Me and Tahereh Mafi feat. other books which aren’t thAt important (just kidding)

Do y’all know the feeling of not being able to keep up with your endless list of pending tags and if you try to keep up, you simply don’t know which of the many awesome tags to choose???

That’s cool BECAUSE I DON’T.

I’m the kind of person to choose to do a tag THAT I WASN’T EVEN TAGGED IN.

Because I love having a loooooong list of pending tags! And I love how the list just looms over me! And how the pages in my blog journal are haunting and taunting me everytime I open it! Clearly I must love myself!

You can tell how lazy and just overall incompetent I am when it comes to managing things and maintaining order in my life, right???

I am in complete control of my life!!!! #sarcasm