One Year Blogiversary Survey Responses ft. Me Responding With Snark And Happiness (as per usual) And People Making My Day

Let me see… was there a single response that didn’t make me happy? Uh no.

Most of them made me laugh, but everything I got was super appreciated. Today I am finally!!!! sharing the results with you guys, I hope you like them!

*note: some of these answers were paraphrased because of length. i mention no-one’s name except for one person who i know in real life and asked for permission 🙂 he said yes, unsurprisingly 😉

what posts do you like seeing from me??

so obviously you guys like my book posts??? which is good, cause…. I’M A BOOK BLOG. tags and book reviews are apparently a no-go, butttt I have a lot of tags piling up so one day I plan to just do a massive post and, uh, you can read it or not but I will probably nominate you!! Cause I’ll need a lot of people haha.

life updates came second, but I only really do them in my monthly wrap ups? which you guys also love tbh. I might do a couple more though occasionally, if you’d like.

what posts do you want more of??

(ignore the bottom four options lol)

well, you obviously like learning more about my life, and almost no-one wants more book reviews or tags. which makes sense cause the same happened up above. I also got a response saying “more unique posts”, which I have been trying to do since I got that response (examples/self-promo: here and here (that one was written before my blogiversary even but oh well)). Also (and I quote) ‘more discussion-y posts’ was mentioned? which I guess I could do but for me I don’t feel I could count that as a post and considering the current length of my posts (something else I’m working on) I think any more than 1-2 posts a week is plenty? especially with school too? so let me know if thats something you’d all be interested in and I could make it happen *boom* *mic drop* *picks it up embarrassed to read the next point*

what posts do you want less of??

oh. oh dear. A LOT OF PEOPLE want less tags/reviews. but almost no-one wants less life updates and tags are how you guys can find out more on what’s happening for me rn so I’m really confused? and reviews I think I should do one a month cause I’m a book blog but how can I spice them up a bit (cause I hate writing them too – especially spoiler-free ones because I’ll only review a book I liked and then I want to fangirl about it). PLEASE HELP.

are there any posts you’d like me to do??

lotta variations on ‘no’ here. “keep doing what you’re doing” “whatever you like!” “no your blog is amazing” (marshmallows for whoever said that) I ASKED THIS FOR POST IDEAS AND YOU GUYS FAILED. no really the only reason I asked this was in case of serious bloggers block.

however I got some ideas! yay! “a post about calligraphy” (ooh yesss) “any tips you have” (see an answer coming up) “diys” (to the person who asked that one, it’s never gonna happen. sorry!) “more beautiful setups” (aww thank you!) “blog formatting tips” (I want to keep all my secrets!!! but  I can do one if any one wants… maybe like how-i-write-a-post?) “your irl friends lol” (sorry quint that ain’t happening… except if I can interview you? :p) “really want a monthly bujo setup” (see the thing with those is that i can only do them once a month, sorry to disappoint you with that earth-shattering fact) “what brought you to the love of books” (love that one!! thank you!!!)

any tags/awards you tagged me for??

which, tbh, probably won’t happen now bc of survey results. and I only got two, one of which doesn’t exist (@myfriendquintistheactualbest, and that… isn’t happening. (quint gave me some hilarious responses *hugs*)

what length do you like my posts to be??

the vast majority of you said 350-600 words. which I do get, but I tend to ramble (if you hadn’t noticed… meaning you must be new) which brings my posts to between 900-1.5k words. yeah. one person said “as many as deemed necessary”, another said they don’t mind, “Idk *shrugs* 😉” and then “100000000000000000000000000 words or more” was quint. again.

i’ll try to make my posts shorter. (but this one’s already 745… meaning my plans to join the responses with the q+a are decidedly NOT happening)

would you guys mind if I did like 2 part posts? or just one, and stick with the length?

what do you think of my design??

so the vast majority of you answered this before I put my new design into play. here’s a reminder of the old header (so you know what the responses pertain to):

a lot of you (50%) said “I like it.”, just over a quarter really made my day and answered “AHH IT’S SO PRETTY HOW DO I FUNCTION”, someone said “it drop dead gorgeous” (three guesses), “IT’S AMAZING!! I love it, your graphics are on FLEEKKKK!” was another that made me smile, and “the title design is a bit hard to read” was another, but i’ve changed that now 🙂

anything you wish i did/had??

lots of variations on “no it’s perfect”, someone wishes I had a dog (hi again quint, I do too), “more unique and diverse posts” (which I am planning for the future hehe), “a fixed sorta post” (I joined Top 5 Tuesday!) “nope I come here and it’s a happy time” (why thank you), “your header looks a bit blurry but otherwise it’s all beautiful!” (thanks! and that was to the old header, how does it look now?), “goodreads” (maybe one day), and then “nothing I would possibly change about your amazing blog <3” (agh I love you! thank you!)

anything you wish i didn’t do/have??

“i would tell you if there was something to change” (okay…), “you’re all good *thumbs up*” (thanks!), “perhaps cut back on the tags?” (the last tag I did was jan, and before that in blogmas when i was needing ideas DESPERATELY), “the orange and blue thing that makes up marshmallow harmonies” (okay i have no clue what you mean by this? so if you said that please tell me!! and explain!!), “nope all is well in marshmallow land”, and finally: “have so many pens (gimme some)”

questions? queries?? comments???

“what made you want to start blogging” – i’ll add that to my q+a //  “what is ur fav colour” – also adding to the q+a // “ur super cool” – thanks // “do you like pineapple on pizza” – you’ll have to wait until the q+a… // “thank you for being an amazing blogger” – thank you for making my day 🙂 // “I LOVE YOUR BLOG ITS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE MORE OF IT! HAPPY ONE YEAR BLOGGING! 🎉 🎉 🎉“ – ily // “your blog is great and so is your personality! so glad i discovered you <3” – aww you too

would you want more discussion-y posts? more tags/reviews/life updates? one big review or short mini reviews (or ways I can ~spice~ them up)? anybody want formatting tips? what do you think of my new design (be honest please)? would you guys mind if I did two part posts? or just one, and stick with the length?

thank you so much to everyone who answered, you all made my day by submitting something 🙂 the survey is also still open! i’d be grateful if you took it! link here! i might even do another responses post if i get enough!

p.s. today is the day my hiatus starts!!!! so feel free to comment and everything else but i won’t be responding 😉 i may also end up posting before my hiatus ends, but only because i kind of underestimated the amount of spare time i’d have on holidays and my brain has SO MANY IDEAS for posts. 🙂 ❤

 

The Boy Who Steals Houses ft. Gorgeous Messy Boys And Soft De Laineys Who Stole My Heart

OH. MY. GOSH. This book was everything I didn’t know I needed.

It was amazing and enthralling and I laughed and cried and it’s every adjective you can think of. Except bad or horrible or anything negative 😉

And my opinion may be biased because I have read many a thing from the author, who also runs a fabulous cake-filled blog. (I would probably read her grocery lists, tbh) AND SHE’S AUSTRALIAN and oh gosh we need moRE AUSSIE AUTHORS. just saying.

I also think I loved this book because I bought this on the day it came out in Australia and I read it in the same evening, even though I stayed up late to do it. (That’s the first time I’ve ever done that. It felt good 🙂 )

Besides my bias, this book completely stole my heart, and while I will *try* to keep it spoiler free, any thoughts involving things that directly ruin the book to read I will be placing in spoiler tags.

*and please ignore all my horrible puns about ‘stealing’ in this review. I know they suck, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY WAS THERE. and if anything is wrong please tell me because i legit read the book yesterday and wrote the entire review today. my brain may be a little too obsessed.

The Boy Who Steals Houses, C.G. Drews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Can two broken boys find their perfect home?

Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing – each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.

But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him. 

(summary via goodreads, image taken by me – please ask permission for use)

and this will be a bullet point review because honestly? I can’t think of another way to review a five star book that all I want to do is rant about. Except for the characters because they deserve a special section 😉

The characters were TOO ADORABLE. I mean, I was falling for all of them at different points in the book, and I need brothers like the twins. (Oh gosh when the twins sat Sam down to talk about Moxie was P R I C E L E S S) Let me break it down for you (and note, this won’t include all the De Laineys because otherwise I’d be here for too long. And all the quotes mentioned under the character are – obviously – said by the character.)

S A M

My smol perfect broken protective son. He, um, makes a few (nope, try a LOT) bad decisions but HIS HEART BELONGS TO AVERY. EVERYTHING HE DOES IS FOR HIM.

“I’m the boy of nothing and nowhere. I’m invisible and forgotten, a thief of dust and cobwebs and house keys.”

M O X I E

She gives me all the Blue Sargent vibes and I frick-fracking (haha) love it. Even though she knows Sam is bad news, she still falls for him and the relationship she has with all her brothers are beautiful. (Yet another reason she reminds me of Blue).

“‘Do yourself a favour,’ Moxie says to Sam, ‘And don’t collect brothers.'”

A V E R Y

Okay so Avery has autism (#ownvoices rep) and honestly I just wanted to give him a hug the whole book. (Sam too, both the Lou brothers really). Also 99% sure he’s bisexual, which was lovely to see (him and Jeremy would actually be perfect ❤ )

“His smile is puppy-dog wide. Innocent and anxiously excited.”

M R.  D E  L A I N E Y

In the words of Moxie “He’s the softest squish you’ll ever meet. He’s buff because he’s a builder, but trust me, he’s the kind of guys who saves spiders.” And he has the best hearing when it comes to Jack lol

“Mr De Lainey tries to say something like ‘I’m not that bad’ but he looks exactly that bad.”

J E R E M Y

I think Jeremy was my favourite??? He was so cute and the slightly more mellow version of his twin, Jack. And I loved him so so so so so so much. Makes Moxie salted caramel lattes (gosh I want one of those) at all the wrong times.

“Come in. Unless you’re an axe murderer. Then stay out or whatever.”

J A C K

The crazy, bad-boy twin of Jeremy. Hates his father’s uncanny ability to hear him swearing (but Mr. De Lainey is apparently deaf when they ask to borrow the car lol). Thinks he’s a lot more helpful than Moxie does (only a 1/10).

“Why are you asking me about his f– um, frick fracking crushes?”

• The fact that it’s a Goldilocks retelling makes it ~that~ much better. I really love retellings, and this is THE BEST ONE I’VE EVER READ.
• The banter between the family was beautiful, especially as I’m an only child, so I’ve never really experienced that banter. The whole family was dysfunctional and gorgeously messy and I wish I could just spend a day with them. Their home was so captivating and compelling and I want to stay for a night is that allowed? (I also have a weird habit of picturing houses in books as houses I know in real life and this one was ten thousand percent my cousin’s house.)
• And the dedication. THAT DEDICATION. The onl– wait, spoiler alert.

spoiler mentioned here

The only thing Sam could think about, holding his last remaining key to the family that means so much to him. He couldn’t lose it and them.

“If lost, please return to the De Laineys.”

• The romance. Moxie x Sam are my forever OTP, as both friends and lovers. They just click. And I love how at one point Sam describes her eyes as caramel. And she LOVES caramel. That’s my idea of love.

“She is the sun, and her eyes burn stars.”

• AND THE EASTER EGGS FROM ATPN AHAHA I loved them

page 209, the beautiful page 209

• Also the damn flashbacks broke me. THE FLASHBACKS BROKE ME, OKAY? I just want to give Sammy a home and a hug and maybe some chocolates. Because as he discovered with Moxie, always start with chocolates.

“He’s officially taken house burglary to the next level. Forget stealing a bed, a key, a home for the night. He’s stealing families and their Sunday lunches.”

This book is overwhelmingly about finding homes and families in places and people that may not necessarily be your blood, but the people that love you and are familiar to you.

Read this book. Read this book for the messy family relationships and adopted sons. Read this book for the ridiculous antics that everyone gets up to. Read this book for the De Lainey waffles and caramel brownies.

have you read TBWSH yet? PLEASE SAY YOU PLAN TO. if you read it, did you enjoy it?

also this is a bit of an impromptu post, but i’ll still be seeing you all on the weekend sometime, love you all xx

quick lil’ update, click to read 🙂

for those lovely people who wished that this month would be better for me in terms of mental health, etc, i’d like to thank y’all so so much. i’m so glad i know you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart. happy to say that the five days of holidays (and there days off school) that i’ve had too far have been stress-free and i’ve been really happy. 🙂 and in other news…. i reached 10,000 hits on this blog!!!! thank you all so much again ❤ ❤ ❤ and something that has vaguely to do with that is i have two books i bought – the fever king and then aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe, so i’m off to read them. have a beautiful day lovelies, and i’ll see you again on the weekend some time xx

 

Rhi’s Rambles // March ft. S T R E S S, Exhaustion, And Generally A Terrible Month?? But Music! And Friends!

Pretty much since the start of last month I wanted March to be over.

Seriously. The past month has just been the w o r s t for me generally, but especially concerning school and mental health. I thought Fwbruary was bad? Should have thought THAT one through… Thankfully it’s over!! FINALLY.

And I’d also like to say my brain has just gone  *kaput* in general, has been like that for a little while so excuse any ridiculous things I may say.

Also (I’m sorry for all the little footnote things) I’m watching Gilmore Girls as I write this (well part of it) AND I’M LAUGHING SO HARD AT JESS AND HIS IDEA OF THE LUKE’S UNIFORM (plaid shirt, backwards baseball cap) AHAHAHA ILY

Top Five Tuesday // 5 Books Set In Space (insert spacey emoticon here :))

This post isn’t late!! Yay!! *sarcasm*

Welll, it would have been early if WP scheduling hadn’t messed up and actually published it on the right day. So here is a slightly late post, right on cue for me.

Thank you Shanah for giving us an easy topic this week!!! Not…. gah this one was hard. I even had to resort to books I haven’t read yet!! Just, I know they’re set in space, ‘kay?

Well well well, this one has it on the cover even! Yay! I’d love to read this, but it came out only this month soo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan (short story featured as part of meet cute)
This follows Philip and Blythe, a boy and a girl stuck in a locked room for 24 hours to evaluate whether or not they’d work well together in a trip to Mars? I think that’s where? It has a definite space vibe to it though.

“This story contains: explosions, the first person born on Mars, a greenhouse, two girls, a small tree called Horace, kissing, difficult decisions about what to do after school, action sequences, and that awkward moment when you try to figure out if your best friend is into you.”

I’m just going to let the goodreads synopsis do the talking. The story was fabulous, read it please and thank you.

So, uh, I STARTED THIS. but it’s too long, and I was slumping (I’d just finished Six Of Crows) so I never got past like pg.50? It sounds and was spacey though, from memory. I also do plan on coming back to it ❤ Eventually. Hopefully. IT’S SO LONGGGGG OKAY?!

Well, another book I haven’t read yet. This one has a zoomed-out view of a planet though…. so does that mean it’s partly set in space where you’d get that view? I’m going with my gut here. (and what I’ve read from other bloggers :p)

did you mind this post being a tad late… again? sorry!!!! this time it wasn’t me tho, at least. read any of these? got any other good space-themed recs? tell me!!

Seven Books + Moments That I Love More Than Waffles ft. Love Letters To Books I’ve Already Talked Way Too Much About

So. We all know there are books I keep. on. talking. about.

Like, I don’t know, Six of Crows? Or maybe just Leigh Bardugo in general? I may love them a bit too much… just a bit. (Okay a LOT.)

But what you probably don’t know is that there are a lot of other books and scenes that actually mean a lot to me. (Probably because I don’t talk about them as much.)

Today I’m here to acknowledge all the books (and the moments in them) that I loved, or that meant a lot to me. This is basically one long sappy fangirl, so, uh, enjoy!