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Blogger Burnout | Coming Back to the Blog After a LONG Hiatus, Plans, & More

Blogger Burnout | Coming Back to the Blog After a LONG Hiatus, Plans, & More

Jan 13, 2024 | Blogging

To say it’s been a minute would be a MASSIVE understatement. It’s been six months since my last post, and there’s no doubt blogger burnout has been a part of that. But just good old regular burnout as well. So…what’s going on? Where...
This Year, I Made the Goal to Read Less – Balancing Books as a Book Reviewer

This Year, I Made the Goal to Read Less – Balancing Books as a Book Reviewer

Jun 12, 2023 | All Things Bookish, Blogging

It’s not everyday that you hear someone say, “I want to read less” – if at all. But being fully absorbed in the book community completely transformed my reading habits – for better or for worse. While being a book reviewer brought me the...
Welcome to the New Julie Anna’s Books | Let’s Change it Up!

Welcome to the New Julie Anna’s Books | Let’s Change it Up!

Feb 15, 2023 | Blogging

It was time for a change…again. It seems like every year I try to rebrand my blog. New color scheme, new graphics, maybe some new page layouts here and there. But this year, I wanted to take it a little further. It’s time for a new Julie Anna’s...

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How was your July? - July went by fast, didn’t How was your July? - July went by fast, didn’t it? ☀️ For me it was definitely busy, and all I seem to have to document for it were all the drinks I ordered along the way 🤣 - I read some good books too, not so much in the five star category, but still some good ones nonetheless! Have you read any of these too? - Fourth Wing - 3.5⭐️ One Last Stop - 3.75⭐️ Alone with you in the Ether - 2.75⭐️ The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics - 3.75⭐️ - #bookstagram #wrapup #recentreads #booksiread #justread #bookblog #bookblogger #booksofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #booktography #bookstack #bookthoughts #readingwrapup
🥀 Do you ever pick up hyped books? Or do you tr 🥀 Do you ever pick up hyped books? Or do you try to stay away? 🥀 - For a while I tried to stay away from hyped books, because I realized that after a while, I no longer care to read said books. But occasionally, I’ll give a book a try if it sounds like something I’d read anyway or would be interested in trying. Fourth Wing was one of those books, and I was in a major fantasy mood, which is pretty rare for me during the summer! - And I have absolutely no idea how to put how I felt about this book into words! It’s the stories like these where I can read 100+ pages in one sitting and not realize it. The book was fast-paced, it was easy to understand what was going on, and I was far from bored. - I think where this book lacked for me was the relationship, which I felt could have had better chemistry other than just circumstance - things went to 0-100 without enough development in my opinion! Plus, while tropes are all fine and good, I feel like this book followed the formula a little too closely. I was reminded of too many romantasy novels I’d read in the past which I felt took away from its originality a bit. - But am I going to read the next book? Id be down. I feel like I read so much nonfiction and books about heavy topics that books like Fourth Wing (even though it’s literally about a war college) are good to have in the lineup too. I’d definitely be down to incorporate more romantasy books in my TBR in the future - but I gotta get through all my library holds first! - [Image Description: Holding up the Kindle version of the book Fourth Wing in front of a bookshelf.] - #bookstagram #bookthoughts #bookblog #bookblogger #bookreview #fourthwing #booktokbooks #fantasybooks #fantasyromance #romantasy #romantasybooks #newbooks #recentreads #justread
🥀 How was your June? 🥀 - June ended up being 🥀 How was your June? 🥀 - June ended up being really eventful for me (but I didn’t really capture picture much - living in the moment I guess?). But things have been going really well overall. I’ve been taking advantage of the warmer weather to explore lots of new-to-me places (as well as some old favorites) - including as many libraries as I can! - On the reading front, I read four books - and I have a feeding July is going to bring a lot more. (I’m in the middle of four now and it’s getting really hard to visit libraries and not pick up a book!) - But here’s what I read this June - let me know if you’ve read these too! - The Body Keeps the Score - 5⭐️ A Room of One’s Own - 3.25⭐️ This is Your Mind on Plants - 3.25⭐️ Four Thousand Weeks (RTC) - 4⭐️ - #bookstagram #juneinbooks #readingwrapup #junewrapup #bookthoughts #bookblog #bookblogger #bookishlife #booksbooksbooks #bookshelfie #booksiread #justread #recentreads
🥀 happy summer solstice! do you have any exciti 🥀 happy summer solstice! do you have any exciting plans? 🥀 - This summer I’m looking forward to many new adventures, but this past week involved many trips to the library so far! My county’s library system is doing a summer tour program, so I’m trying to go to as many of them as possible. This past week, I also visited this little village that’s part of an older restaurant near me. I’m no stranger to the place, but it’s always nice to visit and grab a treat at the bakery. - But whether the place is new or old I’m still looking forward to warmer days ahead and time spent with loved ones. Im also anticipating a pile-up of books to read, because if I’m visiting all these libraries, it’s going to be reeeeeally hard to not walk out with a book! - #bookstagram #bookishreels #booksbooksbooks #bookishlife #booklishvlog #weekinthelife #weeklyvlog #librarylove #summereeading
🥀 Do you like to annotate, or otherwise save th 🥀 Do you like to annotate, or otherwise save things you want to remember from books anywhere? 🥀 - I recently finished reading The Body Keeps the score, and it’s easily the most annotated book that I own. I don’t annotate often, but for some books I find that note taking in some capacity really adds to my experience, either during or after. I’ve been dabbling in Personal Knowledge Management as well, and plan on migrating my annotations to Obsidian for future reference. - But back to the book - this is one that’s been making the rounds at work, and with all the praise it’s getting plus my interest in mental health treatment, I knew I had to pick it up. I may not fit all the same criteria as the patients that were discussed in this book, but I ended up getting more from it than I anticipated - and it ended up being a really good topic of discussion for regular therapy sessions too. - While this book is moreso about treating patients than a self-help book, it helps in these ways - 1, it helps you understand the biology of why anxious and traumatized people respond to external stimuli in the way that they do, and 2, it opens the door for your own self-discovery. During this book, you may ask yourself - what experiences formed the way I think, act, and am? If I think about a negative life event, how do I respond? Am I able to verbalize what I feel? What is my physical reaction? - I spent my life thinking that I am just the way I am and that’s that, but this book ended up helping dig deeper and that I wasn’t always this way, and that I can open up and reconnect with myself. And that’s why it looks like I annotated practically every page 😅 I really took my time with this book, and that makes sense because of the amount of research and detail it goes into, but it was worth the time for sure. - Leaving some of my annotations here - I make new categories as I go and try to write in the margins as much as I can so I can review why I wanted to highlight that text (and store it all in my PKM later). - [Image Description: The book The Body Keeps the Score sitting on top of a journal on an outdoor table with a plant next to it.]
🥀 What are you looking forward to this June? 🥀 - Back at it again with another fashionably late wrap up 🫠 - but better late than never! - This month I read 3 books - but spent the majority of it reading The Body Keeps the Score (which I just finished two days ago; thoughts to come!) so it makes sense to me to have read a bit less. But with the change in seasons and warmer weather I definitely crave nothing more than to just read outside. (But not today, as the air quality has been really bad 😞.) - This past May showed me all the wonderful things that can come with leaving your comfort zone. New experiences (and successful ones at that) lead to more and more exploration (and either way, personal growth) - and that’s the path I aspire to continue down this month. - And as far as reading goes, I’m still mood reading, and I’m still really into nonfiction it seems - but lately I’ve been craving a good fiction book. Here’s what I read in the past month - have you read any of these too? - Joy at Work - 3.5⭐️ Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion - 3⭐️ In Cold Blood - 3.5⭐️ - #bookstagram #wrapup #readingwrapup #booksandcats #catsandbooks #booksandflowers #bookblog #bookblogger #bookthoughts #nonfictionbooks
🥀 Do you have any plans for the weekend? 🥀 - 🥀 Do you have any plans for the weekend? 🥀 - I’ve been wanting to make another reel, and also share some reading updates - so here we are! But first, matcha - I tried adding some strawberry purée to my matcha this morning and it was amazing! - But onto the books - I feel like I’m in the middle of so many reads at the moment (and have been trying to hold off on picking up more). One of which is The Body Keeps the Score, which I’d like to post about soon. - But I most recently finished Overdressed, which discusses the rise of fast fashion and the many impacts - ethically, economically, and environmentally - that this has around the globe. - This is a topic that I’ve taken interest in for a while, so this was naturally a read I’d gravitate to. The author goes into some detail and investigation on factories around the globe and the way that fast-fashion impacts local commerce and employment (this book is primarily centered in the United States). It also goes into some ways to curb fast fashion, such as buying second-hand and to mend clothes like we used to. - This is a decent introduction to the impacts of fast fashion, but I feel like this book hits topics that I’m already really familiar with. Plus, this book shows its age - often it discusses how companies like Forever21 are able to get clothes from design to market in just weeks - but now it’s companies like SHEIN that are able to make that turnaround in just a few days. An updated edition of this book would be interesting. But nonetheless, it’s a quick read if you’re new to the subject! - #bookstagram #bookishreels #bookishvlog #booksandmatcha #nonfictionreads #readoutside #nonfictionbooks #bookishlife
🥀 How was your April? 🥀 - April for me was a 🥀 How was your April? 🥀 - April for me was a bit more chill, and to be honest…I really needed that 😅 I also was sick for a bit, and it kicked in for me that rest is good. Yeah. That’s my takeaway. Rest is good. - But this month was still overall really good! And with the downtime from being sick I…read a ton of Berserk! And have since slowed down a bit, but can’t wait / am scared for what’s to come in volume 5. - Other than that, my reads were pretty okay! I think I’m more excited about my current reads. But here’s a quick recap! - [Image Description: a stack of books on a bed next to blankets and flowers.] - Berserk (through Deluxe Volume 4) - 4⭐️ The Memory Librarian - 3.25⭐️ The Five-Second Rule - 3.25⭐️ - #bookstagram #bookishwrapup #aprilinbooks #aprilwrapup #booksbooksbooks #bookstack #bookspines #bookpic #bookaesthetic #bookblog #bookblogger #bookthoughts #booksandflowers
🥀 What’s the longest it’s taken you to DNF 🥀 What’s the longest it’s taken you to DNF a book? 🥀 - Cleopatra and Frankenstein has been making the rounds lately, and guys…I tried so hard to enjoy this book. But I’m officially giving up on this one halfway through. I’m generally pretty stubborn about not DNFing books this far in, but I’m ready to move on from this one. - I enjoy literary fiction, and was made interested by this book being compared to Sally Rooney. This style of literature can be really hit or miss considering that much of the pretentious dialogue gets to be unrealistic at times, so I can definitely see some of my favorites being critiqued for this reason and I’m okay with that. I enjoy suspension of disbelief to an extent as I break down dialogue like this as I’m reading. - But Cleopatra and Frankenstein went a little too hard on this, and as a result I felt like the dialogue was just trying really hard to be meaningful and it just didn’t have that impact on me. The vocabulary didn’t help much either - I often looked up terms to find that their usage was a bit wonky, as if they were pulled directly from the thesaurus. - Unlikeable characters in a book are also something I enjoy in a book, given that they’re well-written (which is not an easy thing to do!). But all of the characters here were so insufferable that I didn’t care to read about any of them. Even background strangers with dialogue agitated me. The key to unlikeable characters, at least for me, is still being able to have some kind of investment in them, despite their behavior and ethics. But when they don’t have this, it’s harder to stay interested. - Books like these have a lot of potentials, but they’re also incredibly difficult to write, and even more difficult to appeal as a literary fiction title focused on character development over plot. I’ve been seeing this book make waves on Instagram lately (and would like to hear your thoughts if you’re reading it!), but I think it’s one of those where you’ll love it or you don’t. - [Image Desc: The book Cleopatra and Frankenstein on a bed with flowers.] #bookstagram #litfic #bookblog #bookblogger #bookthoughts #bookreview #booktokbooks #recentreads #justread #dnf #booksandflowers
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Recent Posts

  • Blogger Burnout | Coming Back to the Blog After a LONG Hiatus, Plans, & More
  • This Year, I Made the Goal to Read Less – Balancing Books as a Book Reviewer
  • Welcome to the New Julie Anna’s Books | Let’s Change it Up!
  • Book Thoughts: Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
  • 2023 is Here: Intentions, Reflections, and Books

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