Hello everybody, and welcome to day 10 of blogmas! Today, I’m going to be answering some questions people sent me on social media, a lot of which turned out to be festive, so I really hope you enjoy reading my answers. I always worry I’m too boring for this kind of post but I really like doing them! Onto the post!
Hello everybody! So, last year I did a post about all my tattoos up to that point, and since then I’ve had 4 new additions, so I figured I might as well do a little update post. I am already planning more because I’m lowkey addicted, so there will probably be other similar posts in the future too. Onto the post!
Continue reading “Oops, I Did it Again… Another Tattoo Post!”Hello everybody! I realised last month that I hadn’t really done a personal Q and A post for a while and I used to really enjoy them, so I asked for some questions on social media and luckily, very lovely people sent me some. Onto the post!
Continue reading “Q and A: My Dream Ice Cream, Characters I Want to Meet and Other Fun Facts!”Hello everybody! Today, I’m going to be doing the Getting to Know Me Tag, which I found on Charlotte’s blog. Onto the post!
Hello everybody! So, I posted a photo on Twitter the other week and got a couple of questions about the tattoo that was visible in it, and I remembered that I’d wanted to do a post all about my tattoos and just hadn’t got round to it, and I decided I might as well do one now I have 5 and it’ll be a decent length! So, onto the post!
Hello everybody! Today, I’m going to be talking about some of my favourite things about this year, because despite it being really difficult in some ways I have loved so many amazing things that I want to talk about. Onto the post!
Hello everybody! Recently, I’ve seen some posts and YouTube videos popping up where people evaluate their 2018 goals, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and assess my progress today. Even though these and the other, private goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year went quite well, I don’t think I’ll be setting any for 2019, other than a Goodreads challenge. Onto the post!
Reading 100 books– I didn’t think I’d hit this, but I achieved it around August (I think) and put my Goodreads challenge up to 150, which I have now also hit, even though I’ve not updated the site with my December reads yet. I think I’ll probably start out aiming for 100 next year again!
Feel less guilt over DNFing– I actually DNFed far fewer books this year, mostly because I’ve really honed my tastes and worked out exactly what I like, but I definitely feel less guilt over doing so than I would have last year.
Reread more– this one has been a bit of a fail. I’ve only reread two books (The Apprentice Witch and the Children of Castle Rock), but I might try and squeeze in a couple over the Christmas/New Year period.
Read some Shakespeare– I haven’t read a full play from front to back but I’ve read a fair bit of the Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth for an on going English project. I haven’t really enjoyed it though to be honest, and I’m much prouder of the fact that I’ve read a whole play in Spanish and am partway through a French novel!
Keep blogging– I don’t really know why this was a resolution, but after this year I’m much prouder of it than I imagine past me would have expected I’d be. Even though I unexpectedly had to take a health hiatus, I did indeed keep blogging, and I’m so pleased that I have. I’m really excited for all the posts I have planned for next year already, and I love being part of this community.
How did you get on with your 2018 goals? Are you planning to set any for next year? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Amy x
Hello everybody!
Yesterday, as you might know if you follow me on Twitter, was my one year anniversary as a blogger. I couldn’t decide how to mark this occasion for ages, so I decided to keep it simple. Today, I want to thank all of the people who’ve made this year so special, and it’ll probably be pretty gushy. Onto the post!
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To the fellow bloggers I now consider friends: thank you for chatting with me, being there for both blogging and personal crises, and having the best book recommendations. I only hope I’m half as good a friend to all of you as you are to me. If you’re one of these people, you’ll know who you are, and I like all of your boots a hell of a lot (so much I’ll still be your friend even if you don’t know that reference).
To the blogging community: I may not be as close to some of you as those I refer to above, but I still love talking to everyone, taking part in chats both organised and random, and I’m so glad I’m able to consider myself a member of this community. Thank you for letting me be part of it, and making me feel so welcome when I first started.
To the authors who let me flail and fangirl: it will never fail to astound me that I actually know and talk to people whose books are just incredible. It will NEVER stop being surreal that some of my favourite authors on the planet follow me on Twitter, and I’ve even been lucky enough to host some of you for interviews and guest posts, which was an honour. Thank you for all of the above, and also not blocking me for telling you 20 times a day how excited I am for your next book. I know it’s probably really annoying, and I’m so grateful you let me fly my fangirl flag.
To the publishers, who make almost all of this possible: even though I write posts about other subjects, this is a book blog first and foremost, and I want to thank you for publishing the amazing books I get to buy or borrow, and read. And if you send me book post, thank you even more. It’s the coolest thing ever that you send me books and let me share my opinions on them. I’m so grateful to you all.
And, finally, to you: whether you’ve never read this blog before in your life or you’ve been there since the beginning, thanks for reading. It means the world, and I hope you enjoyed whatever you’ve read.
Amy xxx
Hello everybody!
Today’s post is a tiny bit different to usual (more in format than anything else), so onto the post! I hope you enjoy it 💜
Of all the books that I count as favourites, the Geek Girl series is one of the very closest to my heart. There are so, so many reasons why I love this series and I decided, since it’s now almost a year since the final book came out that I wanted to write about it.
It fits my taste perfectly.
Harriet’s voice is incredibly unique, and her dry sense of humour throughout never, ever fails to make me laugh at least once a chapter. We’re very different in a lot of ways, though I see similarities too. I don’t rattle off facts or love maths and Science, but I adore history, and books, and I’m the first to admit I’m not all that into fashion. There is a passage in the first book about that very topic that speaks hugely to me, and I’m often heard saying ‘they’re just clothes!’
That’s something Geek Girl has given me. There are whole sections of this book I can rhyme off by heart; Harriet’s vocabulary has seeped into mine. Ostensibly, which features in one of the most uncomfortable bullying scenes throughout all 6 books is one of my go to phrases in an essay, and it’s one of my favourite words ever. I also try and learn some of the glorious facts sprinkled throughout that always fit just right with the narrative, which never feel jarring as they could be in other hands.
The rest of the cast are just as special. Eccentric agent Wilbur; so bizarre I can’t help but giggle when he’s on the page. Her parents; clever and caring, and undoubtedly my favourite book parents of all time. Toby; initially an irritation, but someone I came to care about by the end of Forever Geek. Best friend Nat; ferociously protective of Harriet, hilarious, a true ‘girl bomb’. Scary fashion designer Yuka Ito, whose terrifying manner provokes Harriet into some of the best moments of the series for me. And Nick. Lion Boy. A character I’m unashamedly in love with. He’s funny, charming, gorgeous and I can picture him so vividly throughout. He’s perfect for Harriet, to me, and she’s perfect for him.
Watching them grow over the course of the series is a pleasure, and letting them go in Forever Geek was difficult (I spent the entire sitting in which I read it in tears, even as I inevitably laughed). I don’t think I’ll ever stop rereading them though. At the end of any especially tough week, or in preparation for something I’m dreading, I go to the drawer in which I keep these (the most easily accessible I have), pull them out and start reading. And it feels like going home.
Why do you love Geek Girl? I’d love to hear from you in the comments or on Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl
Amy xxx
Hello everybody!
Today, I’m doing a little bit of reflection on why I enjoyed doing blogmas so much during December. After all the stress was out of the way, I thought it was an incredible experience, and one I personally loved (though I totally respect anyone who doesn’t enjoy it; every blogger is amazing regardless 💜). Unless anything drastically changes over the next year (which is entirely possible), I’m very much hoping to take part again in 2018. Onto the reasons why I decided this!
Increased Engagement– I’d be a liar if I didn’t own up to liking a boost in my stats, but I mean other things by this too. I thoroughly enjoyed reading other bloggers’ posts and trying to comment on and engage with them.
Creativity– I got to come up with ideas, both for myself and working with guests to decide on their posts. It was brilliant fun, and I love how differently they’ve all turned out, even when working from similar titles. It was a big challenge, especially considering that I usually post 13 times a month on average, but I’m genuinely thrilled with every idea that made the cut (and some which didn’t, that I’ve added to thoughts for 2018 blogmas)
Getting to Organise Something- I’m nowhere near near as organised as some people seem to think I am, but I do really quite enjoy it. Blogmas unleashed my inner organiser (blogging does in general, if I’m honest). Spider diagrams of brainstorming sessions and schedules have been in my notebook since July. This was admittedly extreme, but I’m so proud I pulled it off. In the interest of full disclosure, I already have a loose schedule in mind for blogmas 2018, should I take part…
Doing Something a Bit Different– When my blog first began, I posted exclusively about books. Then I introduced the odd Disney post, and then a lifestyle tag and then films. I really enjoy writing them for a change of pace, and I loved doing festive versions during Blogmas! In the New Year I’m hoping to start talking a little bit about music too, which I’m super excited about. I hope you like these different posts too!
Guest Posts- As well as hosting some amazing guest posts here, I also contributed posts to several blogs I love. It was so much fun, and I really couldn’t pick a favourite of the ones I got to write!
Thank you so much for reading! Why did you love doing blogmas, if you did it?
Amy xxx
Golden Books Girl 