Category: Book Chat

Updated Blog Schedule

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So I announced a bit ago that I will no longer be doing promotional posts and blogs. I later amended that to state that I will still do blog tours. Especially for certain companies. Whether or not I do a review for the tours depends on how many books I have to read for that week. So I’ve decided to update the schedule to reflect the changes.

Monday:

12 PM- Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM- Weekly Reading Goals (Will discuss the books I plan to read during the week and any goals I have)

8 PM- Book Reviews (If Any)

Tuesday:

12 PM: Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM: Top Ten Tuesday- This is a meme blog that I used to participate in that I will be doing again.

8 PM: Book Reviews (If Any)

Wednesday:

12 PM: Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM: Featured TV Show- I’ll talk about a tv show I’m really enjoying that week.

8 PM: Book Reviews (If Any)

Thursday:

12 PM: Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM: Featured Book- Will showcase either a book that has recently been released or a book I’m really enjoying.

8 PM: Book Reviews (If Any)

Friday:

12 PM:Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM: Weekly Coloring Projects- Will showcase four of my favorite coloring projects. Will show both actual and digital projects.

8 PM: Book Reviews (If Any)

Saturday:

12 PM: Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM: Weekly Progress- How I did on goals and reading for the week.

8 PM: Book Reviews (If Any)

Sunday:

12 PM: Blog Tours (If Any)

4 PM: Sundays in Bed With- Talk about the books I’m reading for the day. Sundays are my off the grid days.

8 PM: Book Reviews (If Any)

All times are EST. Please feel free to follow my blog or my page here Star’s Books & Tea.

I feel good about this! I’m excited to see how things go! Have a good night everybody!

Book Clubs I’m Participating In This Year

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I’ve been enamored with some book clubs I see online. This year I’m actively participating. I’d love to see who all is also participating in them. I also need to find more info on where to talk about the books as I read them.

  1. I will be participating in my library’s book club. This month’s book was The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian. Which is a book that an old book club that I haven’t attended in a while did at the end of the last year. I’m almost done with the book. Our meeting is on Monday.
  2. The Reece Witherspoon book club. I’ve been following this one for a while. I have a list of the books previous books that I plan to read eventually.
  3. Read With Jenna. My mom introduced me to this one last year. I’ve been curious about it. I also have the list of previous books for this one too.
  4. Belletrist. This is another book club I discovered last year. I’m really excited to start participating in it this year.
  5. Good Morning America Book Club. I’m going to be transparent here. I just heard about this one. I’m probably only going to participate this month. I’m not fully sure about that yet. The book they are doing this month is one I chose for my Book of the Month box. So I figured I could kill two birds in one stone!

I’m really excited to participate in these! I got the first four books in audiobook just so I can make absolutely sure that I have them read in time! I’m branching out and trying to balance between reading books for review and books for pleasure. Don’t get me wrong. I find joy in reading both, but yeah. Sometimes it’s hard to pick up a book just because. If you participate in any of these, please let me know!

An Unreliable Reader and Blogger

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In September, I’ll have been a blogger for 10 years. Ten. Years. I just can’t believe it. I remember living and breathing blog things. I haven’t always been Star’s Books & Tea. I can’t tell you all my blog names, but there have been a few. This one really fits me. Anyway, I’m so far left field with the topic I wanted to talk about today. To be fair, this thought process brought about the topic I wanted to discuss.

For the past two to three years, I’ve really been a very unreliable reader and blogger. I say that I’m going to do things and then don’t. It’s not that I don’t intend to. I have had a lot going on in my life. I will not go into detail about what has happened in my life. For one, I don’t want pity or judgment. For two, I feel like they are just excuses at the end of the day.

Rather than dwelling on what I’ve done and what I haven’t done the past few years, I plan to let it go and move forward. It’s going to be hard. I still feel the guilt. I still feel the pressure. I will just take it one day at a time. I will slowly get back into how things were before. I will get back in both my love for reading and for blogging. I still love them, but it’s different now. I can’t explain it.

For those who are struggling with anything, it will all look up. Sometimes you just have to step back and reconfigure if you will. Find the groove that works for you. It’s not going to be easy. There will be some hard days. There will be some good days. Just hang in there. It will all work out in the end.

Bookly App

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My friend and one of my admins for The Introverted Readathoner on Facebook has been using this app called Bookly. I’d heard of it but really never looked into it until I started seeing her screenshots. It looked amazing to me. So I decided to give it a try. They have a free version, but I chose to pay for it. I knew I’d use it every day and the paid version just works for me. I have been using it for the past two days and I really can say this is going to work well for me. When I go to read, I just need to click the book I”m reading and hit start reading. I can choose if I want to track it by audio, percentage, or pages! You can set goals on it and everything. I’ll probably revisit talking about this app every few months. For now, I’d just love to meet other people who use it. I’d love to learn more about it so that I can use it even more efficiently!

My New Kindle Scribe

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I got my first Kindle in 2011. I loved it completely. Sadly, it stopped working. By the time it did, there was already another version of Kindle. It wasn’t nearly the size of the original one I had. I loved the Kindle, but hated the size. Eventually, I got a Kindle Fire 10. I didn’t really care for the Fire. It was more of a tablet than an ereader to me. It felt like the only option I had. Then I discovered the Kindle Scribe coming out. I was on the fence about it because of the price. I decided to just go for it. I’m so glad that I did. THIS is exactly what I was looking for in a kindle. And more if I’m being honest. It has the authentic Kindle vibes with the bigger size I love and it has a place to keep up with notes and calendars. I haven’t gotten the case that I bought with it yet, but I am excited for it. I can’t wait to see the projects I make and the books I read with this Kindle. The two other people in my household that got one love theirs as well!

Weekly Reading Updates: December 3rd

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I’ve actually had a pretty great reading week! I kind of fell behind on some of my goals and have been scrambling to keep up. I’m getting there slowly though. I’ve managed to finish quite a few books that I’ve been working on the past few weeks. There’s that. My goals are to try to get all my reading list for the past two weeks done by the end of tomorrow. I think I’m on a good track so far! Routine is important to me, and I’m hoping that I will continue with the one I’m creating. How’s your reading been?

Goals For December

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I’d like to start setting some goals for the following month. I’m not sure I’ll settle on a specific day. Maybe sometime in the last week of the month. I’m not going to overdo it like I have in the past. Maybe just a few simple ones. We shall see. Hopefully, this is a thing that sticks.

Goals:

  1. Get meaningful gifts for loved ones.
  2. Conquer challenges before the year is over.
  3. Keep up with routine
  4. Be more active.
  5. Create a permanent steady income.

I tried to make all of these vague so that if I make any progress I will consider it a win. Baby steps!

BOTM Yearly Challenge Update

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Another challenge update. I haven’t been good with this one either. I think I need to average 2-3 books a week for the rest of the year to pull it off. It might be tough, but I think it’s doable. Anything is possible. I’m almost done with one, so there’s that. From what I understand, there’s a second stage to the challenge this year. If there is, I’m definitely not going to try for it. I’ll be lucky to get this one done!

Yearly Recommendation Challenge Update

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I’m sad to say that I haven’t really been doing good with this challenge at all. I finished January And February. I need to do March and April. I have finished May and June. I need to do July and August. I finished September. I need to do October and November. I will also need to do December as well. I’m stubborn and determined. I want to finish them all by the end of the year! I am also considering doing this again next year. It was really fun! We will see!

A Long Game Project

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This was my favorite series in high school. I loved finding them in the library. I always wanted to own all of them. I had attempted a few times in the past and due to circumstances, I have not succeeded and lost what I did have. I have been working on getting them all in ebook. They are $2.99 each. Lately, I have been using all of my gift card and promo credits on getting them. I now own more than half of them. I’m going to be so excited when I finally own them all. I actually also own the first six in the University series, but I own physical copies. I own the diary specials too. I really do want to read them all one day and in order! I’ll probably do that once I own them all. I may even try to find some more university ones as well.