The Sunday Mix (18)

If you're reading this post on the day that it goes up, I will most likely be on my way to Connecticut to hang out with my friends Gaby of Bookish Broads, Alyssa of Books Take You Places and Amy of Tripping Over Books. I'm very excited, mostly because of the company, but partly because we're planning to hit up Book Barn! Anyway, it's another Sunday, and you know what that means - interesting posts for you to check out and my book haul.

WHAT I READ

• Gillian came up with some great character costumes for Halloween. (And yes, Halloween is over, but these costumes are still epic.) She chose characters from some pretty damn great 2015 reads, and I can't decide which is my favorite (Kaz, Feyre and Lee are my top three!).
• Cassie shares some ideas for how to deal with a blogging slump. Like her, I don't really stress too much about the blog when I don't feel like writing posts. I always prefer to write posts that I'm excited about, or when I'm in the right mood to do so. How do you deal with blogging slumps?
• Laura talks about her book buying habits. I'm always curious about other people's systems for acquiring, keeping or culling books, and her post is a favorite because we have very similar set-ups for most of these things. Tell me about your book buying habits!
• As I embark on the craziness + creative process that is #NaNoWriMo this month (anyone else?), I found these thoughts on creativity from Emma Chapman quite timely. I've struggled on and off with my creative writing process, mostly because I put so much pressure on my self and maintain these impossible standards. This year, I'm feeling good, feeling "loose" when it comes to these constraints, and I think I'm ready to create and find the joy in that.
• Stephanie Garber + Stacey Lee share ideas for how to make writing fun again. Again, this is another post that came at the perfect time for me, as I'm doing #NaNoWriMo. It really is helpful to think of writing as something fun, and not just hard work. And their tips for how to do so are great! 

WHAT I ACQUIRED

from publishers + authors (Thanks Penguin Random House, Bloomsbury, Dahlia, Disney-Hyperion, Estelle, DJ & Lili!)

physical: I Love My Hair by Andrea Pippins / Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee (!!!!!) / The Wild One by Gemma Burgess / Faking It by Gabrielle Tozer / Madly by Amy Alward / A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton / Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes / Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes / What You Always Wanted by Kristin Rae / When We Collided by Emery Lord (!!!!!)

e-galley: Just Visiting by Dahlia Adler / Tempted by a Rogue by Lauren Smith / Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

from #OTSPSecretSister: Taylor Swift 2016 calendar + bracelet / blue tights / iTunes gift card

from Happy Hello Art: Throne of Glass bookmarks (featuring Aelin, Lysandra, Manon, Chaol, Rowan, Dorian and Aedion) + A Court of Thorns and Roses bookmarks (featuring Feyre, Tamlin, Rhys and Lucien)

from Sock It To Me: cupcake socks / striped lightning bolt socks / hedgehog socks / heart socks

bought

physical: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes / A New Hope: The Princess, The Scoundrel and the Farm Boy by Alexandra Bracken / Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Kindle: Now and Again by Jennifer Ellision / Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long / The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long / A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean