Beauty Haul

I have been on a makeup buying ban since the beginning of the year, and I haven’t bought any new makeup in over 7 months.

BookTube-A-Thon 2018 Results

The BookTubeAThon is officially over, and I’m honestly proud with the amount of reading I accomplished. In 7 days, I was able to read 4 books! I’m almost sure that’s how many books I read during last year’s readathon, but I could be wrong. I probably would have finished all 7 books if I neglected all other things in my life. That’s why this BookTubeAThon is a challenge. It’s not meant to be so easy to read this many books in such a short amount of time. I would like to think that maybe one day I’ll be able to read 7 books in 7 days, but I’m not going to beat myself over it if I don’t.

During the readathon, I was able to read:
1. Nostalgia by M. G. Vassanji: 4/5 (This book was my coin toss book).
2. Ariel by Sylvia Plath: 5/5 (This book was my green book and wear a hat challenge).
3. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf: 5/5
4. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy 5/5 (This was my movie adaption pick).

I was able to complete most of the challenges, but I definitely didn’t finish all of them. I did decide what book to read with the coin toss, but the second book in that coin toss hasn’t even been touched yet. Also, I wasn’t able to watch the adaptation of Perks of Being a Wallflower yet, which I will sometime this week. I have read the book and watched the movie before, so I don’t feel too bad about not completing this challenge. In regards to the other books I haven’t read, I’ll be adding them to my to-be-read pile for the month, so that’s why there’s not a TBR post for August.

Overall, I’m really happy with how the week progressed, and that I was able to read as many books as I did. I really hope that I’ll be able to continue this motivation to read throughout the rest of the month. I’ve been in a sort of reading slump in the past few months, and I really just want to take the time to read and unwind.

Did you participate in the BookTubeAThon? Let me know in the comments!

Follow me on Bloglovin’, Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest.

July Bullet Journal Plan With Me

I haven’t done a bullet journal set up in a while, so I thought I’d share what I’m doing for my July spread. I keep my bullet journal fairly simple because I use a tiny journal, and can’t fit too much extra stuff in it. I like to have themes for every month, and this one is meant for memories. I won’t share the cover page, because it’s a bit personal, but it’s going to be filled with memories over the past few years.

Try a Chapter Tag

I’ve seen the Try a Chapter Tag circulating around Youtube for a while now, and I thought I should give it a try. The tag was created by a YouTuber called Book Paradise. I would recommend watching her video because she describes her tag, and rules, really well. Basically, what you do is read the first chapter of a few books, and you then decide what book you would read, or leave for later. I decided that whatever books I really liked will be added onto my May TBR pile.

Here are the books I tried:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Hot House by Boris Kachka
The Widow by Fiona Barton

I think one of the strangest things to me about this tag was switching between books so rapidly. I read 6 different books, but only the first chapter of them all. With the books I chose, many of the chapters were not long. Some chapters were only 10 pages long. Some did not have chapters at all. So to make my reading equal, I decided that if a book didn’t have a chapter, or a chapter was too long, I read only 10-15 pages of the book. By doing so, it allowed me to have an equal idea of each of the books, without reading too much more than others. The most difficult part of this tag was only reading the first chapter and being okay with that. I feel the first chapter, or the first few pages, didn’t give enough information as to what the book will be like. With some of the books I was excited to continue reading, while with others I wasn’t sure how I felt.

I think by testing out a few books, it allowed me to see what books I was really in the mood to read. It allowed me to have an initial impression of the book, which I could later see if my first impression was correct or not. I think the tag can be really helpful if you’re in a reading slump (which I’m in currently). By reading so many different books, I was inspired and excited to read again. It felt great being excited about reading after a few days of not being interested in picking up a book. I would recommend doing the tag if you haven’t already. It’s definitely different to what I’m used to, but it’s a lot of fun.

Now, when it comes to what books I’ll be adding to my TBR in May, I have chosen 3. The book I chose are My Name is Lucy Barton, A Tale for the Time Being, and The History of Love. The other 3 books interested me, but I was not as drawn to them as the ones I’m adding to my TBR. I think I would try the tag out again in the future, but I don’t think I’ll make it a monthly thing.

Let me know if you have tried the tag, or if you would try it!

Follow me on Bloglovin’, Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest.

May 2018 TBR

I can’t believe it’s already May! I felt like winter lasted so long that it can’t possibly be May. However, after the longest winter it’s finally here, and with it comes a new TBR pile for me to conquer. April was a good month of reading for me, so I want to continue that into May. But, instead of having just a traditional TBR, I am including a little twist.

Here is what I want to read in May:
– Mexico by Josh Barkan
– The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
– A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

It may seem like I have an incredibly small TBR for May, but I have a very good reason. I’ll be doing the Read a Chapter tag, and will be picking 2-3 of my favourite books from the tag to include within the TBR. I’ll be posting the Read a Chapter tag sometime next week. It will include how the tag went, and my first impressions of the books I read. So this small TBR might grow to double it’s size by next week. Hopefully the tag turns out well!

What are you planning to read this month? Let me know in the comments.

Follow me on Bloglovin’, Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest.

10 Books I NEED to Buy

My list of books to buy has been growing larger and larger as the years go by. Whenever I hear about a book I want to read, it’s most likely going on the list. I already own way too many books, but one of my life goals is to own a large personal library. So buying books will always be a passion of mine. After a few weeks of stalking Book Depository, I noticed that there were always a few books I kept gravitating towards. I’ve decided that these 10 books are the ones I really want to buy whenever I have the chance.

April TBR 2018

It’s April, so I have another TBR pile to share. March was a good month for reading, but I definitely didn’t finish all the books I wanted to read. March was also a month where I found myself reading less than I usually do. There were a few days where I didn’t read at all. I’m not sure why, but I just didn’t feel like reading some days. So, this is why there are a few repeats on my TBR from previous months.

Winter Favourites (2018)

To start off my seasonal favourites, I’m taking a look back at all the things I’ve been loving in winter 2018. I have read many great books, wore amazing makeup, and watched some incredible movies. I think having seasonal favourites are easier to do, and it allows me to really think about what I have been loving, opposed to picking things I might like monthly. So here is my list of winter favourites!

5 Ways to Become a Reader

I may be a complete bookworm, but I know it’s not as natural for everyone else to be. A lot of people want to unwind and read more, but sometimes it’s hard to do. Even with my bookworm tendencies, I can sometimes not feel like reading. So I started to think about what tricks I know of that can help others want to become avid readers like myself. I compiled a list of things you can do that can help you out on this!

1. Read genres you like
I think this may be obvious, but you shouldn’t force yourself to read a genre you don’t like. If you know you love fantasy stories, then you should read fantasy. Forcing yourself to read a genre you have no interest in will just make you want to avoid reading even more. So if you really hate literary fiction, or young adult, don’t read books in that genre. (Now, I know reading outside of your comfort zone is beneficial, but doing so when you don’t read at all doesn’t help you to want to become a reader).

2. Read books that were adapted into movies or television shows
This tip may seem a bit strange, but bare with me. If you have a favourite movie that was adapted from a book, you should read that book. Most of the time, the book is better than the movie, and has tons more information than a short adaptation. Another great thing about reading a book that was adapted into a movie, is that you already know the plot. There will be no worries about if you’ll hate the plot of the novel because you already know what will happen. For example, if you love the movie Pride and Prejudice, reading the novel will be just as entertaining, but the difference here is that you’re actually reading.

3. Read for 20 minutes a day
If you are not a reader, finding the time to read can be bothersome. Some people have incredibly busy lifestyles, and squeezing in hours of reading can be unrealistic. So instead of making a huge commitment to reading a lot everyday, just squeeze in 20 minutes. I would recommend doing this before bed because you’re probably just lying down and looking at your phone anyway. However, if you have 20 minutes during lunch, or even when you wake up, use that small amount of free time to read a book.

4. Read short books
Another thing non-readers may fear are big books. This I completely understand. If you don’t read to begin with, you really shouldn’t be picking up Ulysses or Moby Dick. You need to start off somewhere smaller so that you can actually finish the book, and feel good about finishing it. That good feeling will stick with you, and you’ll want to read another book. I would suggest reading books under 350 pages to start off with. Afterwards, if you feel like you want to take on a larger book, go for it!

5. Read with a friend
I think reading a book with someone can really motivate you to actually read books. I suggest picking a book with a friend, and both of you read the book at the same time. If you’re reading with someone else, you’ll want to finish the book so that you can discuss the it afterwards. Now, I’m not suggesting a book club because not everyone can join one of those, and sometimes book club books aren’t chosen with the whole group’s interests in mind. Book clubs are still a great way to motivate yourself, but it can fall into the category of reading books in genres you don’t like. So, if you and your friend decide to read a non fiction book about black holes, at least you’re picking a book that you agree upon.

I hope these little tricks will help you, or someone you know, in the journey to become a reader. Regardless of how many books you read, or how much time you spent reading them, reading is a great hobby to have.

Have you helped anyone become a reader? Let me know in the comments!

Follow me on Bloglovin’, Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Bullet Journal: Reading Stats Set-Up

Since having my bullet journal, I have been really interested in tracking my habits, and my mood. After three months of doing this, I thought, why don’t I do this with books? I got inspired by this post on Pinterest, and I decided I wanted to start tracking my reading habits.

I never thought to track my reading, other than how many books I’m reading during the year. But, I thought this would be a great way to see how I read, and what I’m reading. For example, what months in the year do I read most? What genres do I gravitate towards? These questions can be all answered just by tracking my progress in my bullet journal.

I decided when it came to designing these pages, that I wanted to create something simple. I’m just going to use this space to document my findings and keep it at that. I don’t want to clutter these pages with pictures, or other designs. I want to be able to see my stats and really learn from them.

With my reading stats, I’ve decided to track a number of things. I want to see what genre I read the most, where do these authors come from, number of pages read, and how many books I read per month. There’s a lot of things to track, but I really want to see how I progress during the year, and to see what my reading habits are really like. When it comes to pages read per month, I’m simplifying it to only the books I finished that month. I don’t have the time right now to calculate books I half read during months, so if I finish 4.5 books in a month, only 4 books will be listed. (Please ignore the pencil marks and writing, I still need to erase them hahaha).

Let me know if you track your reading habits at all. Have you noticed anything from your reading habits?

Follow me on Bloglovin’, Goodreads, Instagram, and Pinterest.