Random Ramble | cosy storm stay at home day, recent reads and things I'm enjoying at the moment 🌻

Hi Everyone!

Today I just wanted to check in with you and chat with you about a few things. Firstly, I hope you are all well and making the most of the cold weather to take time for yourself. I am currently writing this while listening to One Direction (I know, great taste 😂) while a storm rages outside. I had a day off school today because of the red weather warning for wind, which was nice and as we're advised to stay at home, I'm making the most of it to write on here and get up to date on a few things. 

I'm feeling very cosy; there's something very atmospheric about being huddled up here in a blanket watching the trees swaying in every direction and savouring the chocolate currently melting in my mouth. All I have heard today is the empty droning of the wind and the hushes of it in the trees (well, and One Direction!). 

Photo by Ioana Motoc from Pexels

It's also the start of my half term, which hopefully means lots of blogging time! I'm at home a lot so I'm also hoping to read LOTS to make up for the rest of the month! 

I'm currently reading The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne, which I'm liking but not loving as much as I thought I would. There is a teacher-student romance which I am not judging but it just feels a bit strange and awkward, although it is all part of the plot. I thought it was going to be very different because of the premise but we'll just have to see which way the ending tips it! 

I have been approved for two more ARCs which, as a smaller blogger, is a big achievement! I don't have the statistics to make most publishers accept me but I do review on goodreads and my blog does get some passage. I have also been known to scream at my friends to read books I love. I can't wait to read them both and review them very soon! 

I had to put a book club book down because I really wasn't liking it. It just wasn't for me and as I don't choose book club books by myself there is definitely more of a chance of not liking something. I have also found a few books that I've loved through book club, so it's all a bit of luck. I don't want to talk about the book too much but it was Bone Talk by Candy Gourlay. I just didn't love it which is a shame and I don't think any of my fellow book club members enjoyed it much either sadly. 

I also reread I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman recently because I felt like a very comforting read and this was perfect! I don't want to go into it too much now though because I have posts coming about it. I additionally reread a few of the Heartstopper volumes and novellas which were simple joys, as always!

I did read With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo, which I mentioned in my January Wrap Up so there is a review coming for that, although I did find the review very hard to write for some reason. I have a bunch of other books that I want to review too but as soon as I sit down to write, I just can't think of what to say. There is a lot going on in my tiny brain and sometimes writing a review feels like a chore and after a day at school my brain cannot take it. I am trying to motivate myself though and because I wasn't physically at school today, I could take the time to write some reviews, which did help to make me feel much better about myself and like everything I do isn't just a failure!

 I have to say, I have been feeling more motivation to write posts like this or about blogging (coming soon) than book reviews. Maybe that's because I haven't LOVED a book in a little while...I'm not sure! 

Something I have been loving though, is reading book blogs. It's maybe even overtaken BookTube, maybe. I've also got a few comments on my Top Ten Tuesday posts from bloggers and that has seriously meant the world to me. If you ask my family, they will tell you that whenever I get a comment on my blog, I start squealing like a pig and get the biggest grin on my face! I love replying to comments and reading any blogs people have linked. 

I also now have a bit of a thing about book stacks. I love piling books on top of each other and taking photos, using them for posts...the possibilities of a good book stack are endless! 

I have been liking making graphics using canva too. I'm not sure exactly why but it's just the idea of designing something and finding images and fonts that seems to appeal at the moment! So I guess what I'm doing is designing graphics and writing what I want to write, even if it isn't always book reviews. 

I think it's important to vary what I write and keep it interesting for me too, although the day I loose interest in constantly checking my blog or spending every spare minute itching to write will be a miracle! 

I've also got a bit of a problem because I have a post. That is ready to go. That is a YA Book Of The Month related post. That is a post I spent ages on. The problem is that I don't love it. I don't feel like if some stranger came to see my blog for the first time and read that post they would like it and want to read more from me. I don't know if you would all like it. And now I don't know if I'm going to post it. I don't think I will. This makes me sad, mainly because I  a) spent ages writing it and b) won't have another YA Book Of The Month post for February. Sometimes things don't go to plan I guess!

I have just finished the major work for a redesign too. I will probably still be changing small things but the main things I wanted to work on are all done! The reason I've changed it is to make it easier and better to navigate for you, so you don't have scroll through every post! 

I think that's all I wanted to say... Thank you for being here, it truly means everything. I know this post is (like my other random ramble post) a bit, well, random but I like it and I feel good about it so I'm going to go on instinct and post it. Anyway, I hope you're all doing okay :)

Let's chat!

How are you? What are you reading? What have you read recently?

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