Tag: bookish

Top Ten Tuesday | Bookish Things I’m Thankful For In 2024

Posted November 25, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 13 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Thankful/Thanksgiving Freebie

Canada’s Thanksgiving was last month, but I’m happy to play for bookish things I’m thankful for this year! Also, I’m having a couple of intense weeks and I haven’t been around much on the blog but I’m really thankful that you’re here and I’ll resume visiting blogs and replying comments as soon as I can!

Top Ten Bookish Things I’m Thankful For In 2024

  1. The Calgary Public Library – I honestly believe that my library is the best library in the world. So many book selections both physical and digital, so many books you can check out at any one time, so many free programs, so much support provided to the people of Calgary. I even had a friend from New York visit and even she said that my library is better than the one she has in New York! I am thankful every day for my library!
  2. My bookish friend visiting from New York – I met her through an online bookclub, and we bonded through the mutual love of books. Plus we did all the bookish things while she was here, and she gifted me a couple of gorgeous handmade book sleeves!
  3. Calgary Reads Big Book Sale – She happened to visit during the book sale, so we went and we got lots of books for cheap, and I went back on the final day when all the books were free!
  4. My in-person bookclub â€“ I started the bookclub early this year and it’s been going really strong even though we started out with only a few members. We even went on a road trip to the Royal Tyrell museum together when we read our non-fiction dinosaur related book this summer! I look forward to seeing them every month and we always have a great time. So thankful for my bookclub family!
  5. My online bookclub â€“ A different bookclub from the one I met my bookish friend in New York. I’m no longer in the first one, but a different friend introduced me to this other bookclub this year and I love it! It’s bigger and has so many more bookish activities – it’s a blessing and a curse, tbh, because I’m finding it hard to say no to all the fun activities and buddy reads!
  6. All the buddy reads â€“ I realize some people are solitary readers – and I’m happy reading quietly on my own too sometimes – but I also absolutely love buddy reads and talking about the books with other readers! It enhances my reading experience, helps me remember the books better, and gives me so much perspective from other readers’ POVs. I just love buddy reads!
  7. An Audible membership – I treated myself to an Audible membership for my birthday this year, and I’m already loving it so much! I got it on a discount and I’ve already listened to so many amazing books this year, and discovering more! I still love reading books on text but some books are just better on audio, especially when you’ve got a great narrator on board!
  8. Discovering so many amazing new-to-me books this year – One of the best things about being a part of book communities is discovering all the books that I might not have picked up on my own, but because of other book bloggers and bookclub members raving about them, made me pick them up. I’ve read so many new favorite books this year I never expected to love!
  9. Meeting with another book blogger – So even though I’m active in a few online book spaces, I haven’t been to many in-person book events. However, I got lucky that one of the people I got to know from the bookblogging community lives relatively close to me and I got to meet her in real life! I met Susan from The Cue Card last month and had the best time hanging out with her!
  10. The bookblogging community – And last but not least, I am so grateful to be a part of this bookblogging community, and especially every one of you taking part in the Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by the wonderful Jana, every week. It’s one of the highlights of my week; coming up with ideas for top ten lists and seeing what everyone else has come up with! I am so thankful for every one of you!

What bookish things are you thankful for this year? Did you discover any new favorite books? Have you met any new bookish friends?

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Sunday Post | Cold, Cats, Cookies

Posted January 13, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

Cold, Cats, Cookies

I was in a funk this week. I didn’t have my usual energy this week and spent a couple of days being moody and just laying in bed reading (might be I was just using the moodiness as an excuse to stay in bed and read, but you have no proof).

To be fair, it was a really cold week, with temperatures going down to -36 Celcius, so it’s just much more comfy to hide under the covers than try to do anything else. Even the cats were so cold, all three cuddled up together, which they very rarely do! Also, to be clear, I didn’t have a cold. It was just really cold, and I had a mood.

I did bake some cookies though, which took a lot of time because I made 4x the recipe, but it was yummy and totally worth it! And we got some heat from the oven too, so win-win!

On the reading front, I finished The September House and The Librarian Spy, so yay! I also posted my notes and reactions for The September House that I wrote in my e-reader as I was reading. It’s password-protected and spoiler-filled, but if you’ve read it and are interested in my notes, password is “SPOILME0002”.

I also finally got Light Bringer by Pierce Brown on audiobook. It’s the sixth book in the Red Rising series, and I’ve been so anxious reading about characters that I’ve loved since the first book. Things haven’t been going their way for a while, and I’m just really afraid for them. If this was the final book, I would be expecting a good resolution, but there’s going to be a seventh book, so I’m not sure if we’re going to be left hanging again.

For nonfiction, I’ve started reading The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner and it’s really kicking my ass, to be honest. I’m reading it very slowly, and it’s bringing up a lot of difficult topics. I’m sure it’s good for me to work through them, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for it right now.

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I’m pretty sure I can finish Light Bringer this week. I’m not so sure about The Dance of Anger, I’m contemplating if I want to leave it for another time, but even if I decide to continue, I will be going slow, so it’s going to take me a while.

I also just got The Switch by Beth O’ Leary on audiobook, and I got a physical copy of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries from the library, so they are on the list right after Light Bringer. I’m feeling pretty happy because I’m doing well with actually reading the books I listed on my Winter TBR a few weeks ago. Let’s hope I keep it up!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Reasons I’m Happy to be Book Blogging Again

Posted December 5, 2023 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 32 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is a freebie and it’s my first one on this blog so I’m going with Top Ten Reasons I’m Happy to be Book Blogging Again!

  1. I love the book blogging community. I book blogged for many years before I stopped 10 years ago due to things getting hectic IRL, and while I continued to follow book lovers on other platforms, there’s really nothing quite like the book blogging community.
  2. One of the things I loved most about book blogging were the weekly memes! I actually did TTT more than 10 years ago before I stopped blogging.
  3. I love doing the memes, but I also loved seeing what everyone else was doing. I loved discovering new books, new ideas, and most of all, new friends.
  4. I also love the reading challenges, and following along with everyone else’s progress and achievements. I love that the challenges help me to expand my own reading.
  5. As you can see, I used the word “love” a lot when I talk about books and book blogging. That means I’m passionate about it, and you should always do what you love!
  6. I’ve still been reading a lot, but had no one to talk to about the books I’ve loved. Which makes me sad. Starting a book blog again means I can talk about books here, and that makes me happy!
  7. Sometimes I’ve hated the books I’ve read and want to complain about them but had no one to complain to. Which makes me frustrated. Now I can complain here, and that makes me happy too!
  8. I’ve got a really bad memory when it comes to books I’ve read and I desperately needed a place to write down my thoughts and organize my reading plans and challenges.
  9. I actually started a physical book journal in an effort to organize my reading, but I found it difficult to keep up with when I had to write everything by hand! Plus, it’s not very interactive. Unlike a book blog.
  10. Some of my best memories are of when I used to blog. I had so much fun and made so many reader friends. I hope to make new memories, and new friends, and maybe reconnect with some old friends.

That’s my first TTT post! I’m so happy to be book blogging again. What do you love about book blogging? Let me know!

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