#booktwin

For #bibliophilelove2017 I love…the bookstagram community! I’m so grateful to have found this place and also for the friends I have made here. I’m so glad to have an outlet to share my love for books and also share it with other people who completely understand! (You all know who you are!!) 😊 . For #squeakybookishlibrary 🦄—Unicorns remind me of my #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary. Not just because it’s one of her favorite animals, but she’s got a beautiful soul and brings joy and light into your life. This Snape-Always key chain, made by @whenmelissareads, was given to me as a Friendaversary gift. It’s been one year since me and Amy became friends through bookstagram and I will always be grateful she found me! She’s been a constant source of support and positivity from BG prop advice to talking about what kind of shenanigans our kids are up to, she’s put up with my messaging and texting with patience and kindness. If you haven’t met Amy yet, make sure to stop by her account. . Who’s a friend that after all this time, you’ll always be grateful for? Comment below to spread the love! . I'm a day late for these prompts. I didn't post last night because I was helping my husband pack. He's going away to attend the Super Bowl with a friend which means me, alone with our four kids. 😳 But my umbrella lights came in and FRIENDS it has changed my life! Check out my InstaStory to see them! Happy Friday! . #whenmelissareads #snapeforever #harrypotter #potterhead #slytherinpride

Color coding is one of my favorite ways to organize my notebook. Here in my #writersbulletjournal, I use a color coding system to help find specific pages. In my first #writersbulletjournal, you can see that I color coded most of the pages based on the following system: purple for my monthly tracker, yellow for monthly goals, green for social media, orange for my weekly agenda/review, and red for my current reads tracker. I used circle stickers on the edges and folded them over. I like it so far, but the one that I refer to the most is the red for my current reads tracker. I think I might just use red for that and leave off all the colors, but I’m a creature of habit, so we’ll see. 😅😁 . Featured also are my buddy reads for this month. It’s more than I usually buddy read in one month, but I’m enjoying all of these SO much. I’m reading Flamecaster with Serena @girl_of_books_and_torchlight, My Lady Jane with Kori @_livelaughread, A Darker Shade of Magic with my friend Vicky, and Winter with my #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary. I’m still #currentlyreading all of these books, but I can already recommend these with confidence. These are definitely books worth reading! . Challenge: #planwithmechallenge Color coding . Tags: #bookstack from the wonderful Holly @the_infinite_book_dragon! Holly is co-hosting with Corey @grimdark_dad a September book challenge #grimdragon. Check out the tag for the prompts! It looks like a lot of fun. . I’m hosting a giveaway for a signed paperback for AEITA! Now is the time to start reading it before Torch comes out! If you’re interested in winning a copy to read before Torch comes out, please check my original post marked GIVEAWAY or #jennsaeitaga. Giveaway ends August 24th. That’s tomorrow!! 😨

For the #augustfantasychallenge, Favorite evil queen, I couldn’t decide. I know. What a surprise, right? 😁 But, seriously, with evil queens like these, how can you decide? . I’m #currentlyreading Winter with my #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary. We’re halfway through and I’m both sad and excited to get to the end. I’ve really enjoyed this fairy tale retelling and I’m going to be so sad to see Cinder and her crew gone, but GUYS, Queen Lavana is horrible and deceitful and I love hating her. I love it when the villain is compelling and you’re just waiting for her ultimate defeat. . And you guys know how much I love Uprooted, right? Naomi Novik’s story is based on a Polish folktale she heard as a child from her grandparents. It’s amazing how she transformed this folktale into an amazing retelling. I love the characters, but I have to say the Queen of the Wood was so fantastically evil. I don’t want to give too much away, but the queen in this story is ruthless, and I love the added complexity the author gives to her character. This queen is evil for a reason and not just a caricature of a villain. . And this is for the prompt, Be a Weasley: Share a joke (National Joke Day): What’s a penguin’s favorite kind of dance? A snow BALL. Hahaha. That was courtesy of my nine year old son. 😁

It’s so much fun buddy reading. I love being able to talk with a friend in real time about about a book we’re both reading for the first time. It’s so nice to be able to laugh and cry over the same parts together! The thing is though I had not realized that I agreed to several buddy reads this month. 😅 It’s a bit overwhelming, but my #writersbulletjournal is helping me stay organized. . For the #planwithmechallenge, Overwhelm, each month, I use a reading tracker for the books I read during the month. It’s helped me gauge how long it will take to finish a book and also see my progress. To keep from being overwhelmed especially with multiple buddy reads, the reading tracker helps me stay on track with my daily reading entries. Each day I shade in a box for the book I read and note the page and/or chapter I read that day. If it’s been a while since I’ve read a book, I make sure to read more of that particular book. It’s also great for accountability. One of my goals is to finish reading 50 books and I’ve found what works for me is seeing my progress in my reading tracker and updating my reading status on Goodreads. I love the progress bar on Goodreads to show how much you’ve finished and the added pressure of social media helps too! 😂 If you’d like to see more about my reading tracker, check out the tag #jennfscurrentreadstracker. . Okay. Here’s another #bookstack for #augustofpages. In my last post with HP and TMI, I had mini-bookstacks, so I thought I’d post a real book stack this time. This particular book stack is my buddy reads stack. I’m reading A Gathering of Shadows with my good friend Vicky, Flamecaster with Serena @girl_of_books_and_torchlight My Lady Jane with Kori @_livelaughreads and Winter with my #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary. I'm loving all these books!

I think I did a better job this month picking out my books. I made sure not to go to the library before hand. (I still have some of my books from last month to finish!) Most of my books for August are for buddy reads which I’m very excited to do! • As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m #currently reading Hollow City, City of Fallen Angels, Shadows of Self, The Girl in the Steel Corset, and The Winner’s Kiss. I’m actually almost finished with Hollow City and The Girl in the Steel Corset. If you guys listen to audio books, I highly recommend the Miss Peregrine’s series. I like that they kept the same narrator for the first and second book. He’s very good and does the voices of all the children very well! The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross is part of the Steampunk Chronicles. I had bought the second book The Girl in the Clockwork Collar at Book-Off (used books), not realizing it was the second book! (I had my kids with me!) Anyway, I was so happy to find the first book at the library! The writing isn’t the greatest (there seems to be some typos in the copy), but the story is keeping me interested. Anyone else read this series? • I’m buddy reading Winter with my #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary, A Gathering of Shadows with my good friend Vicky, Along for the Ride with @e_mellyberry, Flamecaster with Serena @girl_of_books_and_torchlight, and My Lady Jane with Kori @_livelaughread. Not all at once though! Hahaha.😂 • And the only book on my August TBR that’s “new”—not a continuation from July or a buddy read—is Six of Crows. I KNOW. But listen, I just finished the Grisha trilogy and then July was crazy. So, I’m finally ready to read it! YAY. Can’t wait to see what you’re all reading this month! • For the #augustfantasychallenge day 1 prompt “Invent a flavor of Bertie Bott’s for your ENEMY! Ah! *rubs hands together* I would lead my enemy to a garden. Right before we got to the section that was just fertilized, I would “share” my Bertie Bott’s manure flavored jelly bean. That way the smell would be in their nose and in their mouth. 😇😁😂 • Challenges: August TBR #livelaughbooksaugust #augustofpages #challengebookamajig #jennfscurrentreadstracker

Here’s my July Wrap-up! When I took this picture, I’d only finished The Winner’s Crime and The Star-Touched Queen. I wasn’t sure if I’d get one more in to meet my 3 books per month goal, but I did! I was able to finish The Winner’s Crime last night. Yay. • I highly recommend The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. I really enjoyed the Indian folktale inspired world building. The world building is infused with imagery and details inspired by Indian culture. The Night Bazaar was such a great example of the elements of fantastic details of creatures, food, and mythology inspired by Indian folktales. I also liked the main character Maya. As we follow Maya’s quest, we learn who she is and her place in the world. Sounds like a typical discovery story, but with the horoscope, magical details and imagery, its a sumptuous story you can get lost in—in a good way! • How do you describe the reading experience of The Winner’s Curse and The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski? I really enjoy the world building aspects of her story and the intrigue, but I have a love/hate relationship with the characters. I’m reserving my judgment until I finish The Winner’s Kiss though. I really want to enjoy this series, but I am finding some hang ups about the characters. • The other books here are books I’m still reading and will get moved to my August TBR. I have to admit, I’m enjoying the Miss Pergrine’s series a lot more than I thought I would! I’ve been listening to it on audio while I do chores and stuff, but then later at night, I go back to the sections in the book that I’ve listened to and look at the pictures. I’m so impressed with Ransom Rigg’s style to create a story around those pictures. I’m continuing my buddy read of Winter with my #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary for August as well. I’m SO ready for Queen Levana to be taken down! (Did you see my duel post? Yeah. SO READY.) • I’ll post more about my August TBR soon. Clearly I’ve got some books to finish up, but I’ve also got a few buddy reads and some books I really need to read. (Gives side-eye look to Six of Crows.) • Challenges: July Wrap-up #sammyreadsjuly16 #ampersandsjuly16 #julywithcj #livelaughbooksjuly

I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use this tag my dear friend and #booktwin Amy @ladyofthelibrary started! It's #youknowyoureabookstagrammerwhen 😂. Here's a shot I was setting up. Last night was my cousin's wedding and we had such a good time. The ceremony was poignant and the reception was so much fun! But being a #totalbooknerd, I did bring a book with me "just in case". 😂 I didn't take a picture with my book because the lighting was pretty dark (only a bookstagrammer would care of such things) and in the well lit places there were tons of people. Normally I wouldn't mind so much but I didn't want to make a bad impression on my cousin's new relatives. 😅 But, as wedding favors, each guest got a tiny succulent plant (I know right?!) and no one else at the table wanted the centerpiece so guess who got it? *points with both thumbs* This girl! Isn't it gorgeous! I love flowers and the centerpiece at weddings are always beautiful, but now there's the added bonus of using them for my bookstagram shots! Not gonna lie, I will use this centerpiece for as long as I can. It's too beautiful not to! And now I have the succulents! Sarah @newleafwriter is the queen of succulents, but I'm so excited to include them in my shots now! One thing you can't deny about bookstagrammers--we will repurpose a thing for a picture no matter what it is! 😁😂 amiright? I will post the final shot with the wedding centerpiece and favors later today! I tag anyone else who'd like to share their trials and triumphs of the life of a bookstagrammer!