Top Ten Tuesday: My Bookish Best Friends

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. How it works is that each Tuesday the host assigns a topic and then posts their top ten list that fits the topic. Every blogger can create their own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well and link to the host’s. The topic for August 14th, 2018 is: Favourite Bookish Blogs/Websites.

If you’re reading this for the very first time or are a regular reader of my blog, I’m so very grateful to you! I’m finding so much happiness in blogging and connecting with readers all over the world thanks to your support. However, this post isn’t about me or what I’m up to. I’m writing this to thank all the friends who have stuck with me through my blogging journey and have influenced me to become the blogger and reader I am today. These lovely people have not only liked my posts, commented on them, shared them and endorsed my blog but also replied to my tweets and loved my Bookstagram pictures. They are so good at blogging that they inspire me to do better. They have listened to me rant and validated my feelings. I can’t possibly limit this list to a 10! Without further ado, let me introduce these amazing people on my blog today! I must mention that most of them fall under multiple categories and I’ve listed them in this way just for convenience.

Reading 101: How to Decide What to Read Next?

I love reading but I have so many people in my life who don’t quite understand the fuss. If you’re of the same kind but like the idea of being well-read, then my series that covers the basics of becoming a true reader is for you! I already posted an introductory post way back in October 2017, which outlines the steps to becoming a book lover, so feel free to check that out if you haven’t. This post is for those of you who have already found that one book you thoroughly enjoyed and are looking for more but have no clue who to turn to or where to search. I’m dividing the post into two sections because shortlisting the book to read next is a two-step process, according to me.

Top Ten Tuesday: Unforgettable Bookish Memories Book Tag

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. How it works is that each Tuesday the host assigns a topic and then posts their top ten list that fits the topic. Every blogger can create their own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well and link to the host’s. The topic for July 24th, 2018 is: Books That Are Linked to Specific Memories/Moments In Your Life. I’d been tagged by Etinosa to do the ‘Unforgettable Bookish Memories’ tag way back in May, but I have only found the time to get to it now. Tags are really fun to do for me personally, so I’m always looking for a chance to include them without making it seem like too much. I was so stoked that this week’s TTT topic matched perfectly with the book tag that I couldn’t resist pairing them up. The tag has 9 questions which is why I’m adding an extra one to make it a proper 10.

April & May Wrap-Up + June Reading Month (2018)

I’m so glad to be alive and posting on the blog again! It’s been raining steadily for the past one month now and my favourite month of the year has arrived. I can’t wait to get back into the blogging rhythm again and finally have the time to visit all the lovely people who follow me and chat with me here. Without further ado, let me talk about how my reading went in the month of April and May. After that, I’ll delve into my plans for June. Since I’m a bit more free from this month onwards, I’m attempting to read more than I have ever before and challenge myself, which is exciting and scary at the same time. Hopefully I’ll have only good news to share in my next wrap-up post.

Reading Hyped Books

I’m starting this really late and I’m well aware. Lately, life has somehow started getting hectic again and I haven’t had quite the stress-free February I was hoping for. So much so that I was thinking of not posting at all today, yet I hit upon an idea so incredible that I had to write it as soon as possible. So here I am with a list of books that are very popular and my experience reading them. They do make an interesting tale, if I say so myself.

The hype surrounding books can be both good and bad for a reader. Popular books are popular for a reason after all, that they are loved by tons of people across the book community. There’s a good chance that it may appeal to you as well. On the other hand, a hyped book comes with expectations. You do expect to love it as much as the next person, and sometimes, it just doesn’t work that way. I want to quickly go through a few books that were just as good as others made it out to be and a few I didn’t like as much as I had thought I would. The ones I didn’t enjoy are still 4 star reads for me, but the hype did contribute to my lower rating.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My TBR Since the Dawn of Time

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. How it works is that each Tuesday the host assigns a topic and then posts their top ten list that fits the topic. Every blogger can create their own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well and link to the host’s. The topic for February 6th, 2018 is: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read.

 

Winter BiBib Day #4: Winter Fantasy Bucket List

I’m back again with another post for the Biannual Bibliothon blog challenges, hosted by The Bookworm in Me. This is probably the hardest one of them all because I personally don’t prefer the winter season. Pretty much all I want to do is stay indoors, curl up under warm blankets and read. We don’t get snow here at all, so my winter bucket list would be pretty much the same as any other season. Also, lately I’m finding that I’m forgetting everything that I’ve ever read in books. Character names, important plot points, food/beverage mentions, etc. I don’t know what’s come over me and it’s starting to bother me a little. Anyway, enough of that gloomy stuff, let’s jump in to the actual post. I’m keeping it very short because I’m exhausted yet have a ton of work to finish as I’m writing this.

1. Make potato stew with Sam Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien)
2. Do a buddy read with Hermione and Crookshanks (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling)
3. Have a slumber party with Vivian (Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu)
4. Gaze at the Aurora Borealis with Malcolm (La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman)
5. Have a tea party with the Five Find-Outers gang (The Five Find-Outers and Dog series by Enid Blyton)
6. Munch on falafel with Magnus Chase and his friends (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan)
7. Build a snowman with Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson)
8. Have hot chocolate with Starr and her family (The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas)
9. Exchange presents with Shawn (Psych series by William Rabkin)
10. Spend a winter day in Gauri and Vikram’s magical garden (A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi)

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What’s the topmost thing on your bucket list? Would it change according to the season/weather? Let me know in the comments section below.

Winter BiBib Day #2: Bookish Beverage

Welcome to the second post on the Winter Biannual Bibliothon blog challenge! Today’s challenge is hosted by the lovely team from Will Read For Booze. The fact that I knew her from before the Bibliothon gives me a special feeling. I’m so glad that she got chosen as a host for one of the blog challenges this time! She’s an absolute joy to interact with on Twitter and her blog is fabulous as well, so head over to show her some appreciation. The challenge for today is to create your own bookish beverage.

I actually struggled a lot to come up with this one. It marries my two passions, reading and cooking, yet I was stumped for ideas. I suddenly forgot every food/drink ever mentioned in any book. The idea I finally hit upon is quite a strange mix of the magical and real. The drink is inspired from The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi. There is no direct reference to this in any of the books (at least to the best of my knowledge), but it’s the sort of beverage that would seamlessly fit into the world that Chokshi has created and you can imagine it being sold in the Night Market that Maya visits. I can also totally picture Gauri drinking it and growing it in her magical garden. It fits the atmosphere and the aesthetic of the setting in the books rather than any character. Also, the drink is predominantly white and in sync with the winter theme of the read-a-thon! However, it is a quirky real drink that can be bought or, even better, easily made. I think I’ve teased about it enough, so I’ll let you in on the secret now.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions/Goals

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. How it works is that each Tuesday the host assigns a topic and then posts their top ten list that fits the topic. Every blogger can create their own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well and link to the host’s. The topic for January 16th, 2018 is: Top Ten Bookish Resolutions or Goals.

Unique Blogger Award

Well, this is quite unexpected, to be completely honest. Since restarting this week, my views have shot up, people have been commenting on my new posts and I even got nominated for a blog award. So far, 2018 has been treating me and this precious gem of a blog very well. To add more cheer, I will be getting a lot more free time in the upcoming weeks because my travel time will be reduced to mere minutes as opposed to the five hours it is currently. If you’re a seasoned reader, you know how much this means to me. I have so many plans for this blog and I can’t wait to share my ideas with you all. Now let’d get to the award, shall we?

I was nominated by Jade from Pay Me in Tea for this award. Thanks a ton! 🙂 She has a beautifully designed book blog and is a fellow tea-lover who also happens to enjoy reading fantasy and young adult books. Do check her out and give her some love.

Let’s go over the rules quickly:

1. Share the link of the blogger who has shown love to you by nominating you.
2. Answer the questions.
3. In the spirit of sharing love and solidarity with our blogging family, nominate 8-13 people for the same award.
4. Ask them 3 questions.