June Wrap Up: Shortest Wrap-Up Ever?

This is probably the shortest wrap up you'll ever see from me. I decided to cut the TV/Film and Videos section because I have nothing to share with you. I've also permanently removed my 'writing' segment as I'll be doing fortnightly updates from now on, you can see the first of which here.

BOOKS

I only read 16 books this month which not as many as usual, but considering the month I've had, I'll let it go. Look at how different the books are though! I've got three different things of poetry on there, some adult fiction...look at my growth, guys! I'm also in the middle of like four books, so hopefully July will be better.

CHALLENGES

Guess who sucks at challenges?

ON THE BLOG

This was my most active month on the blog this year. This post will make it 26 posts within June, isn't that crazy? July is already shaping up to be crazy so don't be surprised if you see a post from me every day. I've been finding it really easy to write lately which means more post ideas!

Anyway, let's talk about the posts that were on the blog this month. I kicked off June with my YALC TBR, which in case you were wondering, is failing miserably. I continued my writing resources with: things you shouldn't say to a Diabetic and a brief explanation of insulin. I've got more of this on the way in July!

Last month I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and this month I talked about the Brontë sisters and popularity, as well as books with layered perspectives.

I focused a lot on authors this month. I talked about who I wanted to read more from, my ten most read and authors I haven't read yet, but really want to. I also shared some other random, but exciting things! I talked about my four favourite bookish people, shared some pictures of my UK trip so far, introduced you all to my protagonists AND announced the Make Me Read It Read-a-Thon.

OTHER THINGS

So if you've been paying attention at all then you know that I'm currently in the UK. It's been great so far, a little stressful at times but mostly good. I'm not going to share a heap of what I've been doing because it's mostly been family stuff this month, but I've got heaps of exciting stuff in July, including getting to meet the amazing Dani. 

One another thing I wanted to share before I go is this absolutely lovely part of a post that my friend (and one of my favourite bloggers) Lori wrote about me. I actually cried while reading it. I don't always feel super confident about what I post here, so it really meant a lot to me that Lori would write something like that. Thank you so much, Lori <3 And, if you don't already follow Lori then obviously you're missing out.

May Wrap-Up: A Mixed Bag

Ah, May—well, you turned out to be an interesting month, didn't you?

BOOKS

Guess who was really, really lazy this month and couldn't be bothered to save each book cover individually? Ely. The answer is always Ely. So yes, 21 books this month. Two of which were DNF's...it wasn't the best month. 

CHALLENGES

I kind of suck at challenges guys...

TV/FILM

I've been so busy with Uni that I've barely had the time to sleep, let alone watch TV. I did however get to see Pitch Perfect 2 for a special event which was great!

VIDEOS

I managed to upload a few videos in May... I had my April Book Haul, May TBR, a RYBSAT TBR/Unboxing, my RYBSAT Wrap Up and finally, Part One of my May Book Haul. I also hit 200 subscribers, which is just crazy and I'm not entirely sure how it happened.

ON THE BLOG

We had a very busy month here on the blog and already June is shaping up to be even crazier! I shared my first ever writing snippet here on the blog—thank you to the very lovely Val who convinced me to do that. I reviewed The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and talked about my Classics Club TBR. I also introduced my new series about Writing Resources, the first post of which will be released verrry soon.

OTHER THINGS

May started off on a high for me. I spent the first three days at a country book festival with two of my besets friends—Michelle and Miranda. These two are honestly some of the best people I've ever met and we had a great weekend full of lots of laughing and food. There were some kind of sucky times in the rest of the month. It was my first Mother's Day without my mum, so that was really weird. I have some really great friends who sent me some lovely messages that day that just warmed my heart. I also got to hang out with Michelle again and we need some more book/comic shopping and well, eating. We really like food. 

I got a piece of writing workshopped for the first time in my Writing unit. I don't really share my writing a lot, so I was kind of nervous. Everyone was super nice and they all seemed to like it which was amazing. That same day I got to have a really nice chat with my lovely friend Rachel. Rach is a reasonably new blogger but we've been friends for something like four or five years (?). She actually used to beta the story that has now turned into Tied Together. Anyway, she's possibly the loveliest person I know and we always have a great chat about books and writing. Have I convinced you to go check out her blog yet?

It was also my mum's birthday at the end of the month, and it would have marked one year since she got diagnosed with cancer. I really tried to stay positive because that's what mum taught me, but yeah—it was tough. I'm sorry if you are sick of hearing about this, I just think it's important to show that sometimes this isn't easy. 

Moving on to more happy things! On Sunday, I went to Reading Matters/YA Matters/Writing Matters/Everything Matters with Michelle, Miranda and Chami. We also met up with Tash and Becca for the first time, who by the way, are both absolutely lovely people. Anyway, we listened to some awesome authors talk, went book shopping and Michelle and I met LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON. There will be recap of the event soon, but just quickly—she is honestly one of the nicest authors I've ever met.

April Wrap-Up: Stress and Anxiety

I am so incredibly thankful for April to be over, you can’t even begin to understand the suckiness that has been this month. Let’s talk about it!

BOOKS

Despite how bad this month was, I managed to read 24 books in April which is my highest number so far this year. My favourites were Suite Francaise, Between the Lives and Heir of Fire.

CHALLENGES

TV/FILM

I finally got to watch the Veronica Mars movie this month and I adored it! I also watched the entire season of Freaks and Geeks, which was beautiful. Otherwise, I’ve tried to watch a few things but I just can’t stick to anything for more than five minutes.

WRITING

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo this month, which went really well…for about a week, then I gave up. I just haven’t been in the writing mood lately.

VIDEOS

I posted a couple of videos this month: Chely Vlog 1, April TBR, Best Friend Book Tag, Update 2, Unhaul 3 and Bookshelf Tour? (I’d really appreciate your thoughts on this one)

ON THE BLOG

I think the posts I’m most proud of this month were my coverreveal for Millicent’s upcoming book and my review of Suite Francaise.

OTHER THINGS

Here we go again. 

Uni has been… stressful. My anxiety always plays up at Uni and I find it really hard to talk to people so usually I just don’t, as you can imagine that doesn’t make Uni a wonderful time for me. I don't think I've ever really talked about my anxiety here, but as you can see, it is something that really impacts me.

Luckily I’ve caught up with Michelle twice – once over Easter weekend and then again halfway through the month. I always have a great time with Michelle and we eat a lot of food and stay up talking until 3am… it seemed like a great idea (until the next day). 

If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen this – but I got my acceptance letter for Aalborg University!! I actually booked my flights to London last week so everything is coming together now, but you would not believe the pain I went through to get them. I uh… still don’t have a passport because this country sucks if you don’t have a driver’s license. Also, I tried to go for my learners permit and learnt how the world hates Type One Diabetics. 

It’s just been a really, really stressful month. There's been quite a few 'stay in pyjamas days' and a lot of crying, and I’m thankful it’s over.

March Wrap-Up: In Which Uni Takes Over

Can you guys believe that it's April already? March flew past incredibly quickly for me but I've got some exciting things to talk about!

BOOKS

I read a total of 21 books this month, one more than in February! I also got rid of sixty four TBR books, but more on that later. Unfortunately, a lot of these were three star books for me. Every Move and The Assassin's Blade took out the top spots by far.

CHALLENGES

These are all the challenges, both official and personal that I set myself this year. As you can see, there are a couple I'm doing really well at and then some others that aren't going as well. 

TV/FILM

I had pretty much no time to watch to watch anything this month, but I did finally finish season three of Veronica Mars - very disappointed in the finale but I'm really looking forward to the movie. I also watched two pilots this month between classes one day - Younger and The Returned. Really enjoyed both of them.

WRITING

I haven't done any work on Tied Together this month, but I did do some other writing. I planned the first two books of a trilogy that I'm hoping to write for Camp NaNoWriMo. Also, as part of my creative writing unit, I've been writing some short stories that I'm actually really proud of.

VIDEOS
There were only three videos this month: My March TBR, and two unhauls (hence those 64 books). I've got quite a few ready to upload in April though!

ON THE BLOG
We had a really diverse set of posts this month. Firstly, early this month I talked about the Millicent Effect (and you guys were incredibly supportive and lovely)! I also reviewed a few books this month - Who Could That Be At This Hour?, Every Move and Foreign Soil. We posted our 500th post, which is incredibly uninteresting. Finally, I talked about my plans to read-through the Stella Prize and shared my thoughts on translations. 

OTHER THINGS
This is where we get down to the nitty gritty of the month! I finally started my second year of University after a six month break - and yes, I'm already tired. I also went to the Every Move launch party with Chami, Michelle, Miranda, Angel and Rou Min and it was glorious. I spent the weekend in the city with my dad and some family friends from out of state where I ate the incredibly amazing breakfast you can see below. Chami and I got to hang out this month, hence the beautiful, beautiful pictures.

How was your March? 

February Wrap-Up: In Which I Am Insanely Busy

Welcome to my February wrap-up. We've got a lot to get through so let's get started!

BOOKS

So I read a staggering 21 books this month. Unfortunately, a lot of them were three stars. My favourite was most definitely Maybe Someday. 

CHALLENGES

I set myself a lot of challenges this year and I've been very slowly making progress with them. My biggest challenge this year is #ProjectTBR and I've taken quite a few books off that but I'll be updating you all on that very soon. I've been loving the Around the World challenge the most - look at that map!

TV/FILM
I continued watching Agent Carter this month and that was literally it. Actually I lied, on the 28th I watched the first episode of this show called Grantchester - I loved it.

WRITING
Eeep. This...wellllll. I haven't really written much. I'm now at a total of 47,000 words so I've written about 3,000. Not as much I wanted but...

VIDEOS
I only posted four videos this month but I do have quite a few lined up for March so I'm not too disappointed. Here are those four: January Book Haul, Favourites #1, Fictional Boyfriend Tag and Bookentine Wrap Up.

ON THE BLOG
We were kind of lazy on the blog in February (and you'll find out why in the next section) but we still had some interesting posts. Firstly, we had Hilary Thompson and a friend of mine - Sky, visit us as part of Fathomless Females. We celebrated Harry Potter Book Night, I talked about my dream book collection and was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by my dear friend Rachel. But most importantly...CHAMI POSTED A REVIEW. This hasn't happened for a year or something!!!

OTHER THINGS
Phew, it's been a busy month! Chami and I started the month off by attending the Ruby Circle Launch Party with a bunch of other awesome bloggers. I finally got to meet the lovely Millicent and if you want to know more about that event, definitely read her recap because it's amazing. Saturday the 14th saw the beginning of the read-a-thon I was co-hosting with one of my best friends Michelle. We had a lot of fun hosting it and I've made some new friends out of it including the marvellous Lori who you should all check out immediately! I also started a new short online course with the Australian Writers Centre that I'm really enjoying so far. I caught up with Michelle the day after Bookentine finished and we chilled in the city, ate some really good food, covered our hands in lipstick testers and somehow...didn't buy anything. On the 24th, I went and saw McBusted live. I've been a fan of McFly since I was about 14/15 so I jumped at the chance to see them live. I also did a meet and greet and spent the entire night shaking afterwards because OH MY GOD. Finally, I spent the last weekend away with my dad. He was going up for a conference so I tagged along and read some books and hung out in the beautiful town of Ballarat. That area - Ballarat, Daylesford, Clunes, Castlemaine and Bendigo, is probably my second favourite area in all of Australia, only beaten by the seaside town I spent my childhood summers in. I really love spending time there, especially with my dad.

Did you think I was joking when I said I had a busy month? Tell me about your February!

January Wrap-Up: In Which 2015 Starts With a Bang

One of Chami and I's resolutions this year was to become more consistent in our blogging. This got me thinking about last year, specifically my monthly wrap-ups - I was all over the place with them, sometimes I'd write 500+ word posts and then the next month there wouldn't be anything. I'm trying to change that this year by posting a wrap-up every month. I'll be posting them in the first week of the next month - so January is being posted today in February and so on. 

I won't just be talking about the books I read. I'll be talking about posts we did throughout the month that we are particularly proud of, other things that are happening in my life - the TV I've been watching, book related events I've been to and etc. Without further ado, let's wrap up the month that was January 2015. 

BOOKS

 This month I read 13 books. Six of those were comics, four YA and two adult. Burial Rites, Tandem, The Winner's Curse and The House of Silk all got five star ratings. I also reviewed Defiance and I Was Here which both got four stars.

I also DNF'ed these two books. I really tried to like these, but I just couldn't.

CHALLENGES
I set myself quite a few challenges this year. A few of them I discussed in this post, and a bunch of others that are things like 'read more of this author' and things like that - I don't think you guys will really care about those and I haven't really started on them anyway. I haven't actually made a start on any of the challenges I mentioned, except for 'Around the World'. This is what my map looks like now. (If you click on the red things, it'll tell you the location and the book.)

TV/FILM
I've been pretty restrained this month, in the case of starting new TV shows at least. I've been watching a lot of Veronica Mars - I'm on to season three now and just...FEELS. I also finally finished Firefly - seriously, it took me over a year to watch this. I saw Serenity too (the movie continuation of Firefly) I'm not quite over it yet. Finally, I started Agent Carter. OH. MY. GOD. THIS SHOW. I don't care if you don't even like Marvel, you need to watch this show because it's amazing and Peggy Carter is kickass. I also re-watched the first Captain America film - I've watched the second one about ten times, but I'd only ever seen this one once.

WRITING 
I've done a quite bit of writing this month (almost 9,000) - not nearly as much I hoped but still a reasonable amount. I've been mostly writing Tied Together but I've been planning out a few other things to pick up once I've finished. I'm currently 44,000 words in - I did write 50,000 for NaNoWriMo but I deleted at least 15,000. I've sort of reached that stage where everything is really, really difficult to write so I'm not forcing myself to write when I've got no motivation.

VIDEOS 
I've been pretty busy on YouTube this month. I thought I'd just link them all here and you can pick out the ones you'd like to see, if you'd like to watch any of them at all. Would You Rather: Booktube edition. Read-a-thon TBRs. #ProjectTBR. Bookentine Read-a-thon Announcement. RYBSAT Round 4 TBR. Comic Book Haul. RYBSAT Wrap Up. Bookentine TBR.

ON THE BLOG

This was a big month on the blog! Chami posted quite regularly at the start of the month while I kicked back, and then we swapped for the second half of the month after Chami left for America. Fathomless Females, our new 2015 feature, started this month with Regan Claire and Eva Pohler joining us. Chami talked about apps that all book lovers need, and we also celebrated Chami's 18th.

OTHER THINGS
I caught up with a couple of blogger friends this month. On the 17th, I caught up with the wonderful Michelle and she took me comic book shopping. I picked up some exciting things as you can see in the video, and then we spent some time crying over how expensive clothes are. Last weekend - the 24th, there was another Melbourne Booktube/Blogger/Watcher Meet Up. There were only six of us this time, but I got to catch up with my Sydney girls - Michelle, Nicole and Miranda. I also got to see the lovely Neisha again as well as a friend she bought along. We had a really great day!

So that was January. I hope you all had a wonderful start to the New Year. I've got a very exciting month coming up in February, so stay tuned for that!

WRAP UP: November 2014

In November I managed to read six books. Usually, I’d be pretty disappointed with myself but I’ve had a really tough month and most of the time I just wasn’t feeling up to reading (or anything else for that matter). Anyway, these are the six books I read.

I wrote reviews for three of them, which I'm pretty proud of! Click here to see my reviews of  Not That Kind of Girl, Saving Francesca and The Infinite Sea.

This month was obviously NaNoWriMo which I participated in. I’m going to do a whole separate post on my novel and my experiences this month, but I’ll give you a little spoiler now…I WON! You’ll have to wait for that post to hear anything else.

Finally, some other things that happened in November. I went on a little impromptu road trip with one of my best friends that was A LOT of fun (and involved far too much cookie dough), and I met up with the lovely Ebony for dinner and *drum roll* an Amie Kaufman/Jay Kristoff signing. The signing was great and Amie is really lovely but…Ebony and I met ELLIE MARNEY. I cannot even begin to describe how excited Ebony and I were when we saw her there, we got our books signed (yes, we took them with us) and everything!

Anyway, that was November! Thank you all for reading. I hope you had great Novembers :)