So, it's been another busy few weeks over here in Manila. There have been last minute wedding details to attend to, Macky's homecoming from Bangalore and just lots of hanging out with my family. I got to watch City of Bones and, surprisingly, I really liked it more than I thought I would. It's also been a big reading week with more Black Dagger Brotherhood, some Gayle Forman novels and a bit of Marni Bates. There was also spontaneous Disney movie viewing (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians, Pocahontas, High School Musical, Pirates of the Carribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest and High School Musical 3: Senior Year). This week in particular is a little more hectic than most, as it's leading up to the wedding on Sunday. I'm excited to see my family and friends, show the newbies around Bacolod, and to finally, officially tie the knot. (7 days till the big day!)
LINKS TO CHECK OUT
1. The Epic Reads team compiled a bunch of awesome teacups & mugs into one post. I personally want the Face Mug, the Owl Mug and the Tipping Teacup.
2. On Pub(lishing) Crawl, Cat Scully shares on writing with fear. It's something I've never thought about before, but I really think it's sound advice to take.
3. The ever amazing Susan Dennard shares her dream movie cast in the event that Something Strange and Deadly was turned into a film. I really, really like her choices for Clarence and Daniel! (Daniel!)
4. I really enjoy Rachel's Book Bags feature! It makes me want to buy new bags all the time, particularly when she matches them to awesome books. This post features road trip books (and I am in love with the In Honor bag).
5. Gillian's post about brutal endings to series made sense to me. The way brutal endings, particularly when they involve character death, make you feel is very telling when it comes to how invested you are in a book, or a character, or a series.
6. I can always count on Kat to write the most amusing posts! Here's one from Alonso the Drunken Unicorn about rebound books. It made me smile when I read it, and I hope you feel the same.
7. Before Allison posted about it, I hadn't heard of All We Know of Love. It seriously sounds like a book I'd really like, so I'll definitely be adding it to my TBR.
8. I'm a big fan of Asheley's thoughts on reading all kinds of books, YA and adult being the primary focus. I try to read an equal balance of both, though it doesn't always happen as I'm attracted to shiny new books all the time. Still, this post really makes me want to rethink that!
9. Desserts and books in one post? YES PLEASE. Gillian baked some delicious chocolate cupcakes inspired by Crown of Midnight, so her post is a double win for me with chocolate and Chaol. (YUM.)
10. I'm a little obsessed with Mandee's manicure inspired by The Bone Season, as I loved that book to pieces. It's an amazing, complex, nuanced debut from Samantha Shannon, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
11. I am in love with Magan and Estelle's joint post for Sweet Summertime Reads which featured their back to school reading picks! Their choices are spot on, and their presentation is flawless, as always.
12. Elena has the ability to create these amazing posts that boggle my brain. Her post on friendships featuring authors talking about their friends was just wonderful!
13. If you haven't checked out the Something Strange and Deadly series by Susan Dennard, you must. It's one of my favorite series that I've started this year, and the second book A Darkness Strange and Lovely came out fairly recently. Check out Susan's playlist for the opening of the book!
6. I can always count on Kat to write the most amusing posts! Here's one from Alonso the Drunken Unicorn about rebound books. It made me smile when I read it, and I hope you feel the same.
7. Before Allison posted about it, I hadn't heard of All We Know of Love. It seriously sounds like a book I'd really like, so I'll definitely be adding it to my TBR.
8. I'm a big fan of Asheley's thoughts on reading all kinds of books, YA and adult being the primary focus. I try to read an equal balance of both, though it doesn't always happen as I'm attracted to shiny new books all the time. Still, this post really makes me want to rethink that!
9. Desserts and books in one post? YES PLEASE. Gillian baked some delicious chocolate cupcakes inspired by Crown of Midnight, so her post is a double win for me with chocolate and Chaol. (YUM.)
10. I'm a little obsessed with Mandee's manicure inspired by The Bone Season, as I loved that book to pieces. It's an amazing, complex, nuanced debut from Samantha Shannon, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
11. I am in love with Magan and Estelle's joint post for Sweet Summertime Reads which featured their back to school reading picks! Their choices are spot on, and their presentation is flawless, as always.
12. Elena has the ability to create these amazing posts that boggle my brain. Her post on friendships featuring authors talking about their friends was just wonderful!
13. If you haven't checked out the Something Strange and Deadly series by Susan Dennard, you must. It's one of my favorite series that I've started this year, and the second book A Darkness Strange and Lovely came out fairly recently. Check out Susan's playlist for the opening of the book!
14. Estelle assembled this awesome gift pack inspired by When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney. It's an eclectic mix of things, and I really enjoyed seeing her explanations about how they relate to the book. It also reminded me that I want to read this book soon!
15. I really love this Pub Crawl post by S.Jae-Jones about being productive and proactive about your writing time. She's got some great tips that make my OCD heart happy!
17. Did you love Sturmhond in Siege & Storm? Well, Elena has created this wallpaper inspired by him... and I LOVE IT. It's just perfect in its simplicity!
18. Reading Sarah J. Maas' release day post had me feeling all warm and fuzzy. It's just so sincere and real and so perfectly Sarah -- and I adore it. I am totally a champion for the Throne of Glass series, as I absolutely love them! Crown of Midnight came out last week, so you might want to get started on the series.
19. Erin Bowman shares her fascinating take on "strong" female characters. I really liked her post because it made me think a lot about what kind of female characters I want in books. The answer? I want a whole variety of them!
20. I've always loved the Big Kids' Table posts on Rather Be Reading, and this one is extra special because Hannah tells us how she chooses her adult book buys. I've been slacking on the adult book front lately, but I do have a list of books that I want to check out!
21. Elena is seriously one of the most creative people I know, and I'm in love with her summer mixes and her summer mood board. It's got great book recommendations and great music all in one post!
RECAP OF MY POSTS
I reviewed the cute middle grade novel set at Disneyland Disneylanders, an amazing sequel with swoons + adventure Crown of Midnight, the spectacularly complex debut novel The Bone Season, the heartfelt middle grade novel Counting by 7s, and the extremely entertaining A Really Awesome Mess. In case you've missed it, I've been hosting the Where She Went leg of the Gayle Forman Read-Along, with new posts for weeks two and three. As a special treat, I hosted an interview with Marni Bates. I also shared photos from my bachelorette party and bridal shower, which were certainly special occasions!
I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I did! Now it's YOUR turn - are there any posts (on your blog or other blogs) from last week that I missed out on? Please feel free to share links in the comments and I'll try to check them out.
I like these link posts! It's not in this link up, but I really liked Jamie's post on blogging when you aren't feeling it. I don't have the link in front of me, but it was very heartfelt and something I totally related to while reading it.
ReplyDeleteI always find so many new things to read when you do these posts! I know you've been so busy lately, so I'm really looking forward to when you're able to post them again :) They're some of my favorite posts of yours!
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for including my Big Kids post on Rather Be Reading!