The Monday Mix (33)

The Monday Mix basically gives me the opportunity to share with all of you the links I loved online from weeks past. This includes everything from great reviews, articles about writing, inspiring posts and perhaps other things too. I've always valued the opportunity to share the great things I've read or seen, and this is my way to share the love with all the bloggers, authors + pubs out there!

Well, it's been... warm. I'm loving this weather though! There's something about sunny days that makes me want to go out and be outside and just hang out with everyone I love. It also reminds me of the Philippines, which makes me equal parts happy and homesick!

I was extremely grateful for the long weekend during July 4! Even though I was lying abed for most of it, due to silly cramps, I still had a lot of fun. I caught up on blogging (seriously, I managed to write up all my reviews and some fun posts too), started to watch Sailor Moon (and Sailor Moon Crystal) again, and started watching Fushigi Yuugi with Rachel (#friendswithanime on Twitter!).

Then, over the past week, I went on three different bookstore runs and it was glorious. My haul will be up this weekend, so you'll see the goodies then! But suffice it to say that it was tons of fun. And then, this past weekend, I spent the night over at Rachel's place and we did lots of fun things on Saturday. It's been a good two weeks, really, and the summer's really getting started!

ALL AROUND THE INTERWEBS

• Open Road Summer just happens to be one of my favorite 2014 debuts! I got super excited when Estelle, Ellice & Cassie (my country music loving friends) teamed up to create a playlist for the book. Estelle shared more of her book thoughts, Ellice talked about their collaboration and  
• Rachel kicked off a new feature (Featurette!) on her blog combining movies + authors. Her first post features Corey Ann Haydu + a fascinating film called Love Me If You Dare!
• I'm fairly certain someone also shared this on Twitter, perhaps. But my husband is the reason I found this fascinating post with these doors! It makes me think of Narnia, for some reason. Which is YOUR favorite? India and Indonesia are mine.
• I'm overly fond of when Maggie Stiefvater writes posts like this: an introvert's guide to her signing. It's helpful, straight to the point and also quite fun to read.
• What will it take to be a full-time writer? Alex Bracken shares her personal journey + a neat list of questions to ask yourself.
• "Don't fixate, writers. Eyes up, writers." Maggie Stiefvater's post about writers and writing is short but sweet.
• "Look for the stories that speak to you, gather those around you and celebrate the fact that you've found something you love." Honestly, Hannah's beautiful post speaks for itself.
• Melissa shared a few truths she's learned from book blogging. Her thoughts are very similar to how I feel too, and the things she's learned are also things that I've slowly but surely started to learn. Well worth a read!
• These minimalist fairy tale posters are freaking amazing, and I need prints of them for my future library.
• I laughed out loud when I was reading about how each of the Disney princesses stays fit.  I think I'd be a Belle, possibly a Cinderella too. (Thanks Alyssa!)
• I've always said it, and it's true - people who read are among the best to fall in love with. (I'm married to a reader, so that definitely works for me!)
• I'm a wee bit obsessed with Throne of Glass fan art. These are really pretty, and I love the first one especially because it just screams Celaena.
• I've always wanted to go to London. These adorable book benches are totally giving me more incentive to visit! (Thanks Rachel!)
• Anna's reading room is turning out so beautiful! Someday, I will have my own little reading nook too. I can only aspire to have it look as adorable as this :)
• I've always loved learning, and I learn best through books. Kelly's totally nailed it by sharing how learning is one of the things she loves about reading!
• Betty and I can agree on reading > blogging sometimes. She wrote this whole post about it, in case you were wondering how it came up.

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.