January Whispers // New Year, Happier Me; Snow, New Blog Design is LIVE, + an AWESOME blog survey for YOU to take!!

Good morning penguins and humans alike, it’s time for the first recap of 2019!!!

Your fave is back.

I mean I haven’t been gone for long – I mean, I literally haven’t been gonna at all but please kindly shut up because I love being dramatic like a certain character from The Cruel Prince (locke, locke, locke).

Anyways as I’m currently typing this up I’m listening to music and feeling alive. Which is how I’m mostly always feeling since I am unfortunately alive – Mrs Gren folks. But anyways, let’s drift away from biology and talk about me, and how fabulous of a mood I’m in.

if you can’t tell I’m in the weirdest and best mood ever 10/10 recommend getting drunk on oxygen molecules.

I’m rambling too much, I must say. But I just want to finish this non-existent cup of tea before I start telling you all the delights and jam tarts of my life, and how it all happened in this peculiar month of January.

BOOKS

I read 6 books in January! One of them was a poetry collection, so obviously very short, but let’s not ignore that one of them was 500+ pages. I actually did manage to read every day, whether it be for ten minutes, or an hour, and that’s what I’m focusing on being proud of!

Also, note I deleted my Goodreads impulsively recently and I am going to talk about this in another section (ONLINE) but just to let you know, there won’t be links to my reviews because of this!

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor ★★★★★ // As the sequel to Strange The Dreamer, a book I loved and cherished with my whole heart, I was ready for the next book to blow me off my feet into strange and magical lands – spoiler: it did. This was entirely heartbreaking, heartwarming, and beautifully lyrical all at the same time and I enjoyed every word.

A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro ★★★☆☆ (3.5) // Emmabooks on Youtube has recommended this book in her videos and May @ Forever and Everly, gifted this book to me for Christmas (thank you so much!) and I LOVE Sherlock Holmes, so I was very eager to read this. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I’m lowkey living for Jamie’s and Charlotte’s dynamic!

Grafitti by Savannah Brown ★★★★☆// OKAY IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHO SAVANNAH BROWN IS SEARCH HER UP ON YOUTUBE AND WATCH ALL HER VIDEOS. I’m thoroughly obsessed with the spoken word poetry she does on her channel, so I borrowed this from my sister and some of the poems were so GOOD and heartfelt?!

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black ★★★★☆ // This was a buddy read with Kerys @ The Everlasting Library, and a re-read! My rating went from 3.5 to 4 stars because I love Jude Duarte with my whole entire heart!!

The Wicked King by Holly Black ★★★★★ // THIS WAS ALSO A RE-READ…can you tell I’m obsessed? Maybe. This was better than the first book, mostly because Jude and Cardan’s dynamic got 3000 times better. (If you’ve read chapter 15, you know what I’m talking about.)

As you can see most of the books I read (like why did i read the girl on the train) this month were above three stars which is so amazing! I am definitely reading books I know I will enjoy, or at least hope to, and that means my average rating for this month is 3.7 stars. 

BOOK HAUL

Apart from The Wicked King, these weren’t hauled in January, just acquired sometime between October and now.

WRITING

So you know that WIP I plotted for NaNoWriMo in 2018. Well, even though I didn’t manage to finish it, or really start it, I started plotting it out more, and now the world and cast are SO much bigger and I’m loving all my ideas.

A new thing I’ve learned is that thinking is very key to creativity. This sounds obvious, but taking some time away from staring at a screen or paper, and walking outside to think about your novel is a very good idea. Why? Because when I walk home from school, it’s silent and I can think and it’s the best for plotting!

So here’s a snippet from a new part of my WIP. It’s like a completely new book from when I first introduced it to you, so take note of that!

I have been writing *some* poetry and I definitely am spending more time crafting them and loving them. I have one poem called “unpoetic” and I think that describes my poetry very well. 🙂

ONLINE

So…I might have deleted my Goodreads account. Okay, so hear me out. One evening, I was feeling VERY anxious for a Reason(TM) and I very impulsively, deleted my whole Goodreads account. This was very very stupid of me and I didn’t even export my shelves so I’ve lost all my data and reviews…and I’m very stupid. VERY STUPID. I did email Goodreads seeing if there was any to revive some stuff…but no. Alas, I am doomed. I don’t know whether to start a new account or not…so let me know.

This means all my reviews will be posted on my blog, one way or another. I think I like the idea of doing mini-reviews for regular books, and then full-length ones for physical ARCs and blog tours!

Due to this, I made a 2019 Reading Spreadsheet so I could keep track of my reading and I really love using it so far!

In other news, I publicised my Twitter again because I needed people to retweet my #bookishwish tweet. I really am a desperate, broke bookworm. No one replied so that’s fun, I’ll just miss out on all my anticipated releases that my library doesn’t have…*cries into cake*. But it’s fine because I have loads of other books at my library and at home that I need to read ANYWAYS.

I also got back into Booktube again, and I just discovered Read With Cindy and she’s like my favourite booktuber…like she’s so funny and has the best content. I also love Mel @ Mel To The Any’s channel!

BLOGOSPHERE

Here are some posts that I really loved or enjoyed reading this month!

• Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books lists 10 books that will make you happy!
• Fadwa @ Wood Wonders reviews The Love and Lies of Rukshana Ali which is one of my most anticipated releases.
• May @ Forever and Everly celebrated her 2-year blogiversary in such a fun post!
• Kerys @ The Everlasting Library posts a Q & A which was very fun to read.
• Elise @ The Bookish Actress reviews Sawkill Girls and convinced me that I need this book in my life.
• Vicky @ Vicky Who Reads showcases some awesome new paperback cover designs!
• Inside My Library Mind reviews Seige and Storm and I just agree with most of the review a lot.
• Cait @ Paper Fury reviews The Wicked King and honestly, I just want everyone to scream about this book with me.
• Ioana @ Dragon Waffles talks about 2019 anticipated releases which like same!!
• Ju @ Paper Blots returns from hiatus and I’M SO HAPPY I MISSED HER POSTS A LOT!!

COVER REVEALS

I’m screaming about all of these!!! Well I mean, The Boy Who Steals is the prettiest and Defy Me is ?! I don’t know what to think?

MONTHLY BLOG SHOUTOUT

So FLASHBACK to the time when I used to do blog of the month. That was so awesome, and I want to do that again! I want to shoutout a blog that I like that has been amazing this month, or that I’ve just discovered and really love?

TIFFANY @ READ BY TIFFANY!

Okay so listen up, Tiffany’s blog is SO amazing and I lowkey just discovered her blog and I’m ashamed of myself. Her posts are so enjoyable, and she’s so sweet and amazing…I haven’t had the chance to interact with her that much but we need to buddy read something because she seems so cool. 😎

My 3 top posts from her this month were:

• When she discussed predictable books and if they’re enjoyable or not? 10/10 discussion!
• She reviewed A Thousand Perfect Notes, one of my faves, and it was so awesome!
• Her TBR for the YARC 2019 Reading Challenge, because even though it’s just a TBR, I love Asian books with my whole heart so…yeah.

You should all go check out her blog if you haven’t already and show it some love! ❤

LIFE

• So our town was being weird and had this light show, and it was the most epic thing ever. You stood with loads of other people in this ring of light and looked up, and it was SUCH a magical experience. We got pizza and I had some noodles too! It was really cool and a fun night out.

• I also went to IKEA and can I just say I want to live there, the bedrooms are so aesthetic and comfy!!

• Going to school was OKAY…and not too stressful I don’t think. I mean, the first week back was TERRIBLE because of the bad sleep schedule that I had in the holidays but I got back into a routine pretty quickly.
• I had a cold for like 3 days straight, so I missed school for one of the days, and my nose was runny and my ear was DEAD and it was just horrible. I’m glad I’m back to normal now!!
• THERE WAS SNOW. It was real. I didn’t get to go out in it though because of said cold, but it was nice! The next day it was all ugly and wet though so 😦
• I’ve also been…in a very good mood lately and it’s great?! Like I feel motivated and happy and strange all at once and it’s so weird but I’M NOT COMPLAINING.
• I watched Birdbox and Wreck it Ralph 2!  I thought Birdbox was okay?! I liked the movie but was left with so many unanswered questions. And Wreck it Ralph was really neat and I liked the messages it sent!

NEW DESIGN

Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room! If you’re reading this post on the WordPress reader or in your email, get over onto the site PLEASE and have a look at my gorgeous new design? It’s beautiful and wonderful and I love it.

Shoutout to May, Lu, Iris, Ju and my mum for helping me out with this! It was a really tough decision to make with loads of designs to pick from, but I decided I liked this one the best!!

So, I’m nervous – tell me what you think of it. Did you like the old one better, or this colourful vibe I have now?

GOALS

goals from last month

• have good posture ✅ yes! mostly!
  
• drink a water bottle every day ✅❌  some days?
  
• read 3 books a week ❌ no, this is such an unrealistic goal
  
• do homework on time ✅ i‘m shocked?
  
• keep organized ✅
  
• be kind to others and yourself ✅ i’m so proud of myself. though i wasn’t that kind to others? oops.
  
• get 8 hours of sleep ✅ yes!
  
• have fun in your week break!! pls! ✅ yes!
  
• see the hate u give? maybe. ❌
  
• finish merlin rewatch (please ilsa!!) ❌❌

goals for next month

• complete one buddy read
• work one collab with another blogger
• drink a water bottle daily
• do homework on time!! don’t procrastinate!!
• KEEP ON WRITING
• carry on having strange moods
• brainstorm blog post ideas
• make a new blogging friend (can already be a mutual!)
• read for a bit everyday

NEXT MONTH

• School is going to be very hectic. I’m going to see a play at the theatre and I’m very excited to go. It’s for Drama classes and I love seeing things in theatre so hopefully, I enjoy the play! There’s also parents evening which I’m NOT excited for at all. I also have a retake of mocks and I’m quite scared.
• I don’t have that many post ideas for next month so I’ll need to do some thinking. I might do a tag and a collab. If you have any post ideas let me know!

BLOG SURVEY 2019

So, in honour of my new design, please take my blog survey! It should take you under five minutes and would really help me out in improving my posts! FREE WAFFLE IF YOU DO.

*CLICK HERE TO ANSWER MY BLOG SURVEY*

How was your January? What was your favourite read? How are your 2019 goals progressing? Do you like the design? What are you looking forward to in February? Did you take my blog survey? Let me know in the comments!