Category: Willow's Book Chat

Bookish Chatter: Readathons

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Topic: Readathons

For those of you who know me, I’m completely obsessed with readathons. Lately, I haven’t been fully successful with them. I keep trying though. I will continue to keep on trying as well. They are especially helpful in reading slumps. Some are a day. Some are a weekend long. Some last a week. Some are even a month long.

I actually host a readathon once a month. It’s called a TBR Jar readathon. It’s held in the Facebook group The Introverted Readathoner. The goal behind the readathon is to take some books and put them in a jar or spreadsheet. Whatever the person chooses. When it’s time to pick a read, you pick at random. However, treating it like a normal readathon is okay too. I just find it more fun to do it the at random way.

That’s all I can really think about on this topic. I’d really love to participate in readathons. Please feel free to comment any readathons that you enjoy. If I’m not familiar with them, I will definitely be checking them out! Especially if there are some upcoming!!!

Times are hard. If you would consider helping me out by the links below, I’d really appreciate it.

Bookish Chatter: Book Fairies

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Topic: Book Fairies

For those of you who don’t know, book fairies are people who go to another person’s wishlist and send them a book as a gift. I’ve gotten two or three book fairy gifts. I’ve sent quite a few as well. There’s just something amazing about both getting and giving books. I wish I had the money to send more. It would be nice to get more as well. Just saying! LOL!

I really think book fairying is a great way to connect with other readers and share books that you love or that you think they will love. I also recognize there will probably be some negative aspects too. I am sure there are people who beg for people to fairy them and have no intention of passing it on. It happens in many different areas. Not just the book world.

What are your thoughts on book fairying? Do you book fairy? Do you get fairied? Tell me your story!

Got a book topic you want my opinion on? Let me know!

Bookish Chatter: 2022 Book Reviews

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I’ve been really lazy with reviews this year. There was a time when I was starting to see writing reviews as a chore. I’ve been writing them up though. I have set up a OneNote for reviews. I have a tab for each month. It’s been really inspiring.

My plans are to write up two reviews a day (if time permits) until I’ve gotten caught up on all reviews. Once I’m caught up, I’ll do my best to write reviews right when I’m done with the book. Also, starting Monday, I’ll be posting a review every day until they are all posted. Once they are all posted, I will post them as I finish books.

I am seriously hoping that writing all of this out and posting it will hold me accountable. We shall see! I’ve been debating in also posting a video review every day as well, but I’m really not sure about that. I’ll put some thought into it!

How are you doing on reviews? Is anybody else slogging through them? What are some tricks you’d give to make reviews less of a dread?

Books I Read In April

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I had a pretty decent month for reading in April. I manage to read fourteen books. Being that I had some struggles through the months with getting into reading, I think that’s pretty amazing. Any reading progress is good though.

Books I read:

  1. As Old as Time by Liz Braswell
  2. Wake’s Claim by Michelle Dare
  3. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
  4. Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse
  5. Learn to Love Yourself by Leah Gail
  6. Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson
  7. Cataclysm by Brandon Sanderson
  8. The Ash Moon by Michelle Dare
  9. The Somber Call by Michelle Dare
  10. The Crucial Shift by Michelle Dare
  11. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
  12. Wake’s Claim by Michelle Dare
  13. Zelia by Zora Marie
  14. A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson

I’m behind on reviews, but I have a goal of writing two reviews a day. Hopefully, I’ll have them all written in no time. I’ll try to spread out posting them as much as I can. What are some books you read in April?

Book Chat: Paranormals of Avynwood

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I just recently read this trilogy. I read all three books in like four days. I love it so much. I’m not going to lie, I read the spin-off series before I read this. This may sound weird, but I actually enjoyed the trilogy even more because of that. I got excited when being introduced to the characters that I already know and love from the series. I now feel like I have to read the entire series over again!

This series. I’m forever grateful for Audiobook Obsession for introducing me to this world. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known all these amazing characters. I wouldn’t have a new favorite author in Michelle Dare. I wouldn’t have books to listen to to help me get to sleep. This is definitely a series that I will reread many more times in my life. I need to get all of the series and trilogy in paperback! If you’re looking for a book world that will absolutely suck you in and make you want to stay forever, this is the perfect world for you!

This author is definitely on my instant buy list. Just saying. If you’ve read these books, please let me know! I need somebody to talk to about these with!

First Giveaway

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I am very excited to announce my very first giveaway on this blog. I am going to start with the Kelly Violet sets. Six winners will receive some book promo, a bracelet, a pen, and a QR to claim an ebook of hers.

To Enter: Tell us your favorite summer read! Share with your friends so they can join as well. If you post to social media, use the hashtag #WillowWritesAndReads2020 or #WWAR2020Giveaway. Look forward to seeing your entries!

Winners will be chosen on September 13th. Please make sure to include a way for me to get in touch with you in order for it to be counted. Winners chosen at random. I’ll allow multiple entries.

Giveaway Announcement

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I hope everybody has been doing well. I have an intense three weeks. The first week was Reading Rush. I managed to finish seven books during the week. The next week was Savannah. I had an amazing time, but I had something happen that changed my entire world. In the best way possible. This week has been winding down from the two weeks before.

Anywho, I’ve been so thankful for the readers I have on my blog that I wanted to do something as a thank you. I want to try to give some things away. I’m not sure how it’s going to go, so I’m going to break it down into stages. Every Friday I will give away one item. The amount of winners will depend on how many of the item I have. So for instance, if I have two sets of a series, I will pick two winners.

Here are the items I have to give away:

There will be four different giveaways. All of the above items will be included.

I will have six winners for this giveaway.

This will have one winner. Both books are signed by the author.

I have two sets of these two give. They are personally signed, but they are really good books.

I will have two of these to give. They are not signed. The cover is beautiful though.

I’m not really sure which I will start with. I will do my best to make all of the giveaways fun. I think I will have each giveaway last a month and announce the winners a week apart like I’m doing the giveaways. I am really excited to give this a go!!!

Updates On Reading Rush And My Life

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I can’t believe it’s Friday already! It’s been a fantastic Reading Rush week! I had Tuesday and Wednesday off. I sadly had to call in on Thursday. Wasn’t feeling the best. I only have one challenge left to go! Emma. I am hoping to have it finished by the end of the day or at some point on Saturday! Has anybody else been participating in The Reading Rush this week? How are you doing?

Has anybody heard of the Raycon earbuds? I’ve been getting advertisements for them everywhere! I’m really enamored with them. Especially with who the person owns the brand is. I have a Bluetooth pair of headphones that I love. My only problem with them right now is that because they are trapping heat. It makes listening to things kind of uncomfortable. It makes work uncomfortable too, but there’s nothing I can do about that.

We’ll be getting two kittens later today to foster for a month. Well one is a full grown cat and one is a kitten. They are my mom’s kittens, but she has a babysitting job for a few weeks to go to a little bit after our trip to Savannah. I plan to make their stay with us as comfortable as possible. Well when I’m here that is.

Time to get back to reading! Hope everybody is doing well!

The Reading Rush 2020 And My TBR

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I don’t really have much to report for the week. I was sick and missed three days of work that I couldn’t really afford to miss if I’m being honest. However, I’m feeling better now! That’s what matters.

Now on to the topic I am excited for! Next week and the week after! Next week is Reading Rush! I’ll still be working during the week. I was going to take the next two weeks off to fully enjoy them. It’s okay. I’ll still be able to enjoy it.

After Reading Rush is over, I’ll be heading to Savannah for an event called LLS. This may very well be my very last year, but I’m not sure. This year will put a lot of factor in on that. And my finances over the next coming year!

Anyways, for those of you who don’t know, Reading Rush used to be known as BookTubeAThon. It happens for a week in July every year. Go to their website for more info!

My final reading list includes Book Of The Month books so that I can tackle challenges from that too. If you haven’t subscribed, I strongly recommend it. You get one to three books every month at a decent price!

The Challenges:

Read a book with a cover that matches the color of your birthstone.

My birth month is August. My birthstone is Peridot. I chose Mexican Gothic.

Read a book that starts with the word “The”

I chose The Guest List.

Read a book that’s inspired by a movie you’ve already seen.

The movie I chose is Clueless. The book I chose is Emma.

Read the first book you touch.

I went to a big stack of books, closed my eyes, and pointed. I had my fiance pull out the book my finger was on. It turned out to be Home Before Dark.

Read a book completely outside your home.

For this, I chose Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me.

Read a book from a genre you’ve always wanted to read more of.

I chose Contemporary for my genre. The book I chose was When We Were Vikings.

Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live.

I chose The Library Of Legends. It takes place in China.

I’m very excited to get the readathon started! Some of these can be doubled down on challenges if needed. I also have an audiobook for every single one except for Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me.

If you’re participating too, I’d love to see your TBR for it! Comment the list or link to your TBR! Happy reading!

Weekly Book And Personal Chatter: 7/9/20

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It’s been a pretty decent week. It wasn’t completely amazing. We had a few things happen that have added some stressors. I’m pretty sure that I’m completely out of my reading slump that I’ve been into for the past month. The stress had really gotten to me.

I am officially done with training at work! I’m so excited! Wednesday was my first official day. I work afternoons. The training was mornings. It was a little brutal for me. I’m not a morning person at all. The training where we were taking calls took place at a time I find that I can read in between calls. I can’t read physical books though. It’s too much of a hassle of closing the book and then opening it and finding my spot. By the time I find my spot, I’ve gotten another call! I’m currently reading Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore. It’s been really great so far!

I’m still working to catch up. I feel like the longer I work at catching up, I fall further behind. I think that’s the curse of a reader! I usually have a few books that I read a few chapters of every day. I don’t have that many I do that for currently. Other than that, I pick one book to read and an audiobook. I’m currently reading The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutoski and listening to Kingdom Of Darkness by Tricia Copeland.

Reading Rush is from the 20th- 26th and LLS is the 26th to August 3rd. I’ll be in Savannah during the duration. Which means I’ll need to quarantine for two weeks when I get home. It will be so worth it. I’ll be making some special blogs for both events.

That’s all I can think of for now. Thank you for taking the time to read my blogs! I truly appreciate it.