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JULY RECAP // beating the reading slump, bookstagram mania, booktube videos & back to uni
Friends, this post is actually on time and I am just living my best life tbh. July… was a bit all over the place. Which was unexpected. Unfortunately, I fell into a bit of a physical reading slump so… am behind on reading a little bit. But it’s fine, I’m slowly getting back into it and I’m looking for quality, not the quantity you know. But some other great thigs happened. Anyways, let us just get into it!! All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson {★★★★★}: No, I do not know why it took my an entire month to listen to a 5-hour audiobook. I just don’t make sense that way. Truly it should not have taken me so long because I was absolutely loving it. This book is SO GOOD and one I think literally everyone needs to read. It was narrated by the author, which made the reading experience so much more personal. This one is a YA memoir-manifesto that deals with topics like sexuality, race, the intersection of being black and queer and also navigating your way through life. George is also gender non-conforming, so it also handles misogyny and gender roles. And it’s so well…
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THE FOLKLORE BOOK TAG // matching masterpiece songs with books (kinda) ft. all the heart eyes for the new taylor album
So we can collectively agree that this is Taylor’s best album yet, right? And this is PURE MASTERPIECE GENIUS? Coming from someone who isn’t the biggest Swiftie. I really enjoy her but her music have always been something I listen to for a bit and then I move on? Not in a bad way, I’m just not a big pop listener. I go through spurts you see. So when the internet started freaking out and I saw the title I knew that this was going to be MY ALBUM. And it is. Anyways, I want to give a big thanks to Ilsa, the creator and who is like a whizz and idk how she got it up so fast. But also am obsessed that you did this. Thank you for tagging me, as well as Olivia & Nimika, who are both lovely and I love you all a lot. Also, you’re cheating if you’re doing this tag and NOT listening to folklore. It’s not a competition, I know, but I don’t make the rules. THE RULES Link to the original creator: Ilsa @ A Whisper Of Ink Tag at least 3 people. Declare the rules and list of prompts in…
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ANSWERING ALL THE QUESTIONS FOR THE LIEBSTER AWARD // reflecting on my early blogging days ft. my rating system, favourite albums & tbr books
Say hello to a post I’ve left abandoned for 6 months. But also thank you Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea and Lais @ The Bookish Skies, for nominating me, who are literal angels and I love them a lot. Honestly can’t believe that you people actually like me. We’re doing both sets of questions today because I’m late as per usual. Nothing new here. Grab a snack because this might will be very long, but I’ll try to keep my answers short and less rambly welp. Anyways, they’ve left some questions to answer so that is what we shall be doing today. Click for important links!! – https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ – https://blacktranslivesmatter.carrd.co/ – https://trans–rights.carrd.co/ – https://pendingpetition.carrd.co/ – https://blacklivesmatter.com/ – https://getinformed.carrd.co/# THE RULES Acknowledge the blog that gave it to you and display the award Answer 11 questions that the blogger gives you Give 11 random facts about yourself Nominate 11 blogs and notify them of their nomination Give these blogs 11 questions to answer CAITLIN’S QUESTIONS What book do you think would make a great TV show? (Take note: not movie) I did some research (by research I mean I just quickly googled it and scanned the page for approx 3 seconds) and…
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CHECKING UP ON MY 2020 READING AND BLOGGING GOALS // how has my reading year been going ft. stats, reading challenge, new goals & more
I love how I’m doing this post yet only posted my goals in April because I’m apparently always four months late at everything I do whoops. I am a blogging disgrace. But oh well. At least I try. This what I tell myself to sleep at night yes. Anyways, I actually set some goals this year, which was ready to post back at the beginning of the year, but I’m a failure and forgot it existed and never posted until April. Among other excuses obviously, which we can talk about later. BUT all the cool kids do these fun posts and I am feeling basic and also want to see how my goals are doing so far this year. Trying to expand my horizons etc etc. So let’s just get started *CUE BLACK EYED PEAS MUSIC* Oh also click RIGHT HERE for my goals post. STATS & OVERVIEW I never do these but I was so intrigued that I went ahead and lowkey wasted time to see how my reading has been going all year. I’ll start off by saying that from a general overview, I’ve been having a terrible reading year so far. I started university and didn’t read…
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BOYFRIEND MATERIAL BY ALEXIS HALL // spoiler-free book review: queer fake-dating that’ll make milk come out of your nose
Hello there friends, we’re back with a book review today about a delightful book you all should read for all the smiles. I had absolutely no idea how I would feel about this book and I got the lovely opportunity of reading it before release date and just,,, agh such a lovely time. I guess keep reading to find out more? I sound like a salesperson omg no. Title: Boyfriend Material Author: Alexis Hall Page count: 432 Date published: 7 July 2020 Genre: Adult contemporary romance ✉ Synopsis: Wanted: One (fake) boyfriend Practically perfect in every way Luc O’Donnell is tangentially–and reluctantly–famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he’s never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad’s making a comeback, Luc’s back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything. To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship…and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He’s a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he’s never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately, apart from being…
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NOMINATIONS FOR THE FOURTH ANNUAL BOOK BLOGGER AWARDS // my favourite book bloggers who you should be following! ft. all the squealing & making up lost time
I have absolutely NO idea why I didn’t do this last year so this is long overdue. But we’re also here to spread the love and shower all the amazing bloggers with love because they deserve it. And I feel like I’m making up for lost time ya know? Truly what was I even doing this time last year that I didn’t participate? And the years before that. Memory, who is she? I have been slowly picking up the blogging game and especially as of late trying to blog hop as much as possible. Because I’m terrible at it. But we’re getting there. So quite a few of my nominations I’ve only recently found and/or interacted with. None of these lovely bloggers needs my shoutout but I want to do it anyway. Also, before we get into it, let’s just credit the brilliant hosts: May and Marie, who are amazing and I love and admire them a lot. Big thanks for putting in all the effort you two! Let’s just proceed on with the nominations < 3 Also before we get into, wanted to give a big thank you to anybody who has nominated me and that you’d even consider…
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IMAGINE ME BY TAHEREH MAFI // book talk: mini defy me review ft. sad feelings and hardcore warnette shipping
My life now has a hollow hole because I’m SAD and EMO this series is over. Somebody send me HELP please and thank you. Also, I have no self-control and read this book in an entire sitting YAY FOR ME. I think I’m an ACTUAL reader now, a reader whizz if you will. I’VE MADE IT! Watch me do all the 24 hour readathons. WAIT NO I TAKE IT BACK I DON’T WANNA JINX IT!!! gahhhhhh mini-review Before we start, I again have to apologise because I was supposed to do a review of Defy Me ages ago when I read it but never got around to it. Should we do it now? Why the heck not I suppose… Defy Me (Shatter Me #5) by Tahereh Mafi Seeing as I read this book like a year ago, excuse any stupidity. I mean you already do that most of the time but still. But from what I can remember, and I’ve actually been rereading parts of the books because I’m emo and truly don’t want this series to end welp. I did not love the end of Restore Me, it was way too much drama and I HATE a particular ‘trope’…
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JUNE RECAP // pride reads, end of semester, profile photo change, movie watching & fave blog posts
Hi hello there friends I keep doing these saying I’m trying to be on time and then I never do and it is an… endless cycle. Seriously, I need to stop making broken promises. Anyways, some fun things happened in June so let’s just get into it I didn’t have the most amazing June in terms of new faves, but I nonetheless enjoyed mostly (we’ll get into that later) all of the books that I read! Pride by Ibi Zoboi {★★★½☆}: what a delightful book oh my gosh. I stayed up until like 4 am reading this because I was enjoying it so much. I haven’t read Pride & Prejudice, only seen the film, but I loved this twist on the story and thought it was very well done. I definitely need to go and read all of this author’s backlist now too because I just really enjoyed her narrative and lyrical voice. The romance was sweet, although frustrating at times ahhh, and I LOVED the sister dynamics. I loved how Zuri could stand her ground. I do think this book could’ve been longer for character development but I also do like how short it was? Anyways, a fun time…
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MID YEAR BOOK FREAK OUT TAG // what is 2020? ft. starting a youtube channel
Ah, it is that time of year once more. It’s not Christmas, but Christmas in July… for us book people. Anyways, this year has been… meh for me so far. I’ve been doing a lot of rereads this year so my answers aren’t that great. But we’ll just see I guess? BLM Before we get into this post, I’m just wanting to remind you that the world is still in chaos and I HIGHLY urge you to do everything you can to help. CLICK HERE FOR IMPORTANT LINKS ⇣⇣ Petitions to sign ↳ George Floyd ↳ Ahmaud Arbery ↳ Breonna Taylor ↳ Tony McDade ↳ Dominique Fells ↳ Elijah McClain ↳ Kendrick Johnson ↳ National Action Against Police Brutality ↳ Collins Khosa #1 & #2 ↳ Tshego Pule ↳ Naledi Phangindawo ↳ End racism in SA schools ↳ End GBV in SA ↳ LGBTQ+ rights ↳ THE WORLD ↳ More DONATE!! ↳ Completed list ↳ Black Visions Collective ↳ To bail funds ↳ Watch this Youtube video where all AdSense revenue gets donated Directly contact ↳ Text or call ↳ Email template ↳ Collins Khosa email template Ways to be a better ally ↳ Support black businesses ↳ Support black…
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SHINY, NEW AND UPCOMING RELEASES I’VE BEEN EYEING // 15 queer books on my radar that i’m willing to kill for
Hello there girls and gays Excuse me today, I’m trying to be funny and witty. Idk if it’s working. Anyways, so I came up with this post 0.5 seconds ago, well it’s a few days when I’m posting this but still. We’re just going with it because my creativity has been low when it comes to blog posts. I literally just have a list of books in my head that have recently come out or are coming out soon that I’m keen to read. That’s all there is to it really. I’ve said before that my thought process is very interesting. I… don’t have anything else to say so let’s just get into the books!! BLM But just quickly, I want to keep saying this and keep encouraging people to support the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. Just because it’s not “trending” anymore, it doesn’t mean we should stop talking about it. This injustice needs to end and we can do something about it. So here are some links! I also wanted to mention since I am posting this on what is known as Youth Day in the country I live, South Africa, to remember the Soweto Uprising that took place on the…
