Category: Wrap Ups and Challenges

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

February 2021 Wrap Up

Posted on by Rachel Hall

With February finally at a close and March beginning, I couldn’t help but feel remorseful. It has been a year since COVID started with no end in sight, and it’s definitely depressing. Although some of my relatives over 65 have gotten the vaccine, I cannot help but feel fearful for those I know who are at risk, or those who even work at super spreader areas and yet still work minimum wage to make ends meet.

There’s not much I can do on the matter, other than wait patiently and hope that myself and my loved ones don’t die on the way there, or at least not be covered in debt by medical bills. The worry lingers in the back of my mind like a bug that just won’t die, and I hope that I don’t say, “oh god it has wings,” at it right before it kills me.

So for now, I will carry on doing what I have been doing: wake up for school, eat breakfast, go out occasionally for fresh air and doctor’s appointments, stay at home for the zoom appointments, check in on friends and family occasionally, write, read, play my video game, sleep, repeat. 

And all the while, I decided to do something new every month since December 2020: a Project Pan.

Project Pan

I’ve talked about this on my blog previously, but Project Pan was originally created by makeup collectors and lovers who wanted to use up their products and avoid the clutter, or in other words, “hit pan.”

This term has spread to other areas as well, and to be honest, I can’t help but apply it myself. 

Yarn

So far for February 2021, I have used eight balls of yarn. Yes. Eight. And they aren’t small either. I got a majority of them at Michael’s, where they had a combination of sales upon sales, which were too good to ignore. I also finished one from Walmart. I personally am not a fan of Walmart, I always feel like I’m about to witness something strange there, and most of the time that’s true. But, Walmart was on the way while I was on my walk and I figured, “why not.” 

The fact that finger knitting is a huge coping mechanism for me is definitely not helping with my yarn addiction. Thank god all of these were on major sale.

If you are interested in any of them, here is the list of what I’ve used up:

  • Red Heart Super Saver Ombre Deep Teal Yarn (found at Walmart)
  • Caron Cake Rainbow Sprinkles
  • Caron Cake Melon Ice
  • Caron Cake Bumbleberry
  • Caron Cake Pandan Pudding
  • Sugar n’ Cream Psychedelic
  • Caron Cake Sugared Cherry
  • Sugar n’ Cream Fleur de Lavande
  • Caron Skinny Cakes Rainbow

Bath and Body Works

I also had a goal to finish up this candle I had from Bath and Body Works. To be honest, in most cases I probably would’ve finished it last Winter. But inconveniences kept happening. First it was misplacing the lighters. Then trying other forms of flame that also did not work. Then I realized my house didn’t even have lighters, and were thrown out. Then I had to wait until I was able to buy some, and even more inconveniences along with that. 

It’s a very nice candle, especially since it was a good size, scent, and price. I would suffer with some sort of guilt if I ever paid 25 dollars for a candle, no matter how good it smelled. I could get FRIED CHICKEN with that. I could get A BOOK with that. But to be quite honest, I need something new to smell. It’s not like it smells AWFUL, I just get bored easily.

[ADD CANDLE PIC HERE]

I am a Bath and Body Works addict. There, I admitted it.

The fragrance notes are Cinnamon and Clove Essential Oils with a hint of Warm Apple Brandy. It reminds me of the winter time (or as winter as Florida gets) when I would get a massive cold while stressing for my midterms, and my mom would make me a hot toddy while I was having a Ny-Quil induced drug trip. I struggled to stay awake during those times but the tea definitely helped matters. 

Unfortunately I did not finish it, but I’m at least 60-70% done with it. 

Surprisingly, I also managed to finish a body spray. Not that I don’t like to use their body sprays, they’re great. It’s just that they tend to take me longer for some reason. I used this one every morning on my bed.

The fragrance notes for Beautiful Day are daisies, pink peonies, and sun kissed apples. I’m normally not into floral scents, but this one was an exception for me and I think it’s because of the apples. The fragrance gave a clean scent, like laundry fresh from the wash. Hence why I put it on my pillows rather then my body. It was one of the mini sizes, but I’m still proud nonetheless.

Lip Gloss + Chapstick

 If you’ve ever seen me in real life (without a face mask which is nearly impossible at this point) I always make a habit to bring lip balm and gloss. One of the ones I wanted to finish up using was a gloss that someone from my college gave me as a birthday gift. It’s from a small business called, “The Audacity Cosmetics,” and is in the shade Passionate. It has more of a lip oil texture than a gloss, but the color is great on my lips and it has a nice taste to it too. There is some glitter of some sort in it, but it doesn’t apply on the lips. I tend to use glosses and oils as lip treatments as well overnight while I sleep. I definitely recommend it, but be sure that you prepare properly so that the color doesn’t get on your pillows.

Honestly, I practically used this up already, but there’s still a little bit left that I don’t want to waste.

Reading Progress

Part of the reason I joined yet another literature class besides filling out the requirements to get my Associates and study to be an English Major, was because I wanted to win my Goodread’s Reading Challenge. Is it stressful to read for a grade? Yes. But I’ve had this professor before and most of his choices, albeit wouldn’t be books I would pick up, but are good. The fact that my GPA is on the line forces me to read more and open up my horizons. So here’s some of the books I wanted to read in February.

“The Plague,” by Albert Camus: 76% Completed

So far this is the most heavily annotated book I have ever read for a class. I definitely like the style of writing, but the amount of annotating I have been doing has definitely affected my progress through the book and has even tired me out. I think it’s almost scary how on the nose this book is, especially since it was originally published in 1947. I’m excited to see how this finally ends and be free from the stress of annotating this book.

If the ending of this book is bad, I’m going to be so mad.

“The Kill Order,” by James Dashner: Completed

I’m not sure what to rate this novel as of yet, seeing as I have yet to find time for the review. However, seeing as I hid in my room, curled up into a ball, and hugged my squishmallow over it, I think it is safe to say it’s at least 4 or 5 stars. I haven’t read any of The Maze Runner Series, and I was definitely nervous about reading it for my class. Even though it is a prequel, sometimes books are meant to be read in the order they are published in. Unfortunately on Goodreads, not a lot of Maze Runner fans liked it, and were hoping for backstories on the Maze Runner characters instead of focusing on a different set of people. But luckily for me, I didn’t know any of the original characters or storyline, and loved it all the same. 

This book definitely has a lot less annotations, probably because I was so tired from, “The Plague.”

Goals for March

  • Make a habit of using my candle every single night
  • Get back to using lip balm and lip gloss every night
  • Finish reading, “The Plague,” by Albert Camus
  • Survive Midterms
  • Have a good start to my classes starting in March
  • Read, “The Andromeda Strain,” by Michael Crichton
  • Read, “The Children of Men,” by P.D. James

I always forget how long wrap up posts take me (which is why you don’t see them much on here) but it’s always nice to see the information all together and see what I have accomplished. If you would like to share what you have gotten done or anything you’re proud of from last February or even March, feel free to share! I’d be glad to read it! If you have any current goals, I’d also like to hear it as well. I hope you all have a good weekend this week, and those who are on spring break, happy spring break!

With love,

rachel hall

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

I Go On My Wattpad Account After 5 Years and This is What Happened

Posted on by Rachel Hall

Hello! Yes, I know that I have been absent. My classes for this semester have required a lot of reading, which leaves me very little time to take care of myself, much less make a blog post. I’ve also been dealing with some personal issues, which is still ongoing, but I will try my best to focus on those who matter to me and what I love to do, hence my return.

Let me give you a little bit of background before I jump right in. Wattpad is a website where you can read free ebooks, specifically made by other users. It is similar to other websites such as fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own (AO3), which I also posted this story on. I mainly wanted to focus on Wattpad because I found it easier to post my chapters on there, so most of what I wrote is on there. Wattpad is particularly known for cringey One Direction fanfictions (kidnapping and adopting comes to mind), as well as those smut one-shots that definitely should not be looked at by 12 year olds. (I can never look at a lemon the same way ever again.)

I made an account there around 2016. I was 16 at the time, on a ton of medications and my dreams day by day were crashing and burning. Seeing as I was mostly at my house because I thought someone was out to kill me at the time (turns out I’m not that special), I figured I would mess around and post some short stories on there. They started mostly with cringey mental illness hot takes, which was me projecting to the internet my problems with a hint of, “graphic design,” on the cover. 

This is the Wattpad I remember. When I first saw this, I thought the website design-wise was very sleek.

But what really got a lot more response then I was expecting was a fanfiction I wrote about BBC Sherlock. It started off with a few chapters with little to no planning, and slowly evolved into what I was planning to be a trilogy. Unfortunately, I still have the ending planned for book two, I have for years, but have not published it as of yet, seeing as my love for BBC Sherlock died as the seasons got worse and worse as Moffat had more and more bullshit excuses. 

Granted, at the time, I was just goofing off, writing chapter by chapter and thinking it was garbage. I still think it’s garbage. But apparently Wattpad is full of racoons because they loved it. Last time I checked, I had around 10k reads on there and a few hundred likes. I still get notifications from Wattpad on my email, which is a constant reminder that my teen self is being perceived (much to my displeasure) and the cycle of obsession continues on to this day. 

The first thing I notice immediately is that Wattpad has one of those sliding screens on the top featuring their publishing company. Which honestly, I’m unsure how I feel about it. I know when I was younger, I was desperate to have something published, hell even a Wattpad award of some sort (like a Watty), but as a publishing company, I can’t imagine them being taken seriously. Now keep in mind, this isn’t me talking badly about writers as a whole online. I’ve read some very great stories and fanfictions on there. But with a lot of these kinds of websites, they tend to be a dime a dozen. Every fifty fanfictions about Louis Tomilson marrying a fan (who is aged as an adult but is definitely a 12 year old’s self insert) there’s one good fanfiction that’s better then the actual content it came from.

Wattpad now, design wise, is better. But it definitely shocked me as an old-timer.

I also notice there is a premium function and…coins??? I have heard of this before, but I can’t imagine paying for premium to buy a book instead of just going online to buy an e-book membership of any other major book company instead. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the FREE books I read on there cost “coins,” now. Now keep in mind, some of these writers definitely deserve it. It takes a lot of time to write a novel, especially if you’re expected to post on a weekly basis. But I think the real whiplash isn’t the authors trying to make money, but Wattpad taking itself too seriously.

I’m aware that 99 cents isn’t very much, but considering I can find similar if not better content on fanfiction.net and AO3 for free, is it worth it?

It says here that I have two messages in my inbox and 365 notifications. Even now, after all these years, I still panic when I see notifications on there. Because it isn’t just someone liking an instagram post. These people are reading what I wrote at 16-17 years old, and commenting on it without knowing me at all. I literally feel sick as I’m scrolling through the notifications. This is what I get for being a people pleaser. 

The first fanfiction I wrote has 26 chapters, 35,200 reads and 1,300 likes. The second one of that series was not completed, but has 11 chapters and 1,000 reads. Although it was very common for me to feel anxious a lot due to the open criticism aspect of my writing there, I also felt immense joy seeing how much people enjoyed it. Writing online actually made me feel like I had a purpose when all my plans were falling apart, which was a huge reason why I’m still alive to this day. As I’m even writing on here and scrolling through Wattpad, I feel an immense pain in my chest and I’m struggling to breathe but at the same time feel immense nostalgia.

I’ve been blogging on this website for over a year now, and to be quite honest, I struggle immensely with not only learning online marketing, but also feeling like I’m, “good enough,” or if writing on here is worth it. At some point I would love to invest more time and even some money on writing online, but the mere idea is a lot.

I would love to write more than just book tags and reviews. But with college, constant doctors appointments, friends, family, and more, there is only so much I have time for at the moment.

If anything, looking through this Wattpad account has taught me that I should, at the very least, keep writing online. Maybe even look through my old works and publish it on here too. It’s not because I’m the “best,” at it. I don’t have to be the best. But because I like to do it. 

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

2020 Wrap Up

Posted on by Rachel Hall

Hello everyone! I wanted to wish all of you a happy new year! I meant to post this a lot sooner, but wanted to focus one actually enjoying the winter holidays. For the last couple years, the winter holidays have been super difficult for me, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to be in a deep depression during that time. So, I’m happy that despite the pandemic, at least Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and the likes are getting easier. 

However, I did have some trouble with some of my physical issues. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had stomach issues. Over the years it has gotten worse and these past few weeks my sleep schedule is all out of balance because of it. I finally went to the hospital around 12-1 AM, tired of being bed bound. Luckily no one seemed to be there besides the staff who were in high spirits. I got home by 5 AM the same day, and several days later I feel no COVID symptoms. Unfortunately, I have yet to find out what is going on with my stomach for it to be reacting in such a severe way over practically any food, but I hope I can find out soon. At this point I am just accepting something is seriously wrong and hoping it isn’t the worst possible case scenario. 

The state of the United States certainly isn’t helping things. I’ve been finger knitting obsessively to deal with it, but a part of me is still scared of what will happen once Biden becomes president. Just like New Years doesn’t magically make things better (the Capitol coup proves this) the change of leadership won’t either. I just hope no one gets shot. 

Despite the never ending chaos of the world, I do want to share my wrap up this year, just to give myself a pat on the back and not go on another hiatus.

2020 PROJECT PAN

Although I have plenty of lists that show what I need to use up and what I need to restock on, what I didn’t write was how much I used the entire year for #ProjectPan. Of course, since I did the math sort of late in the game, there are certain things I’m not 100% on. However, most of these numbers are accurate if not estimates.A lot of these items are from Bath and Body Works, however I am also a huge fan of makeup and books as well. 

Lotions: 12

Old Hand Sanitizer: 5

New Hand Sanitizer: 11

Body Mist: 8

Body Wash: 13

Lip Gloss: 1

Candles: 6

Chapstick: 1

Makeup: ~9

Decluttered Books: ~10

Nothing really exciting looks wise. Any suggestions to make it look prettier or more exciting would be great.

BOOKS OF 2020

If you look at my Goodreads account, I have read a total of 13 books, which is a shame because this year my goal was 20. But doing school while being quarantined, I became my family’s official IT employee, which of course gave me less time to read. I probably should have lowered my goal once I realized that. 

I’ve also read a total of 3,801 pages. My average rating was lower than what I remember last year’s being, but right now it’s 3.6 stars. A bunch of the books I read were textbooks, which can be hard to give a rating for, considering how useful a textbook can be relies heavily on the professor. 

My top 3 books this year were:

  1. Slay by Brittney Morris
  2. Happyface by Stephen Emond
  3. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

The number 2 and 3 spots were completely tied in my mind. Although both books were the complete opposite in terms of genre and concept, I was definitely surprised by some of the twists and turns the authors chose, which is why it was so hard to pick which one was better. (So, I decided not to.)

  • Any suggestions to fill up that second half of this page would be appreciated.

CLASSES I TOOK IN 2020

U.S. History from 1865 to Present (Spring 2020)A
Earth Science (Spring 2020)A
Music Appreciation (Spring 2020)A
Introduction to Sociology (Summer 2020)A
GPA4.0
Completed Hours41
Required Hours60

(Keep in mind that I took Fall Semester off rather than Summer. I normally take college classes all year round.) 

If there is anything else you would like to see from my 2020 Project Pan or anything related to 2020 or 2021 in general, please let me know! I have a list in one of my journals for blog post ideas, so I do write suggestions down. 

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

2020 End of the Year Book Tag

Posted on by Rachel Hall

Hello! I have so many ideas for posts this month. However many of them fit better with the middle to end of December rather than the beginning. So I decided to do a book tag that @Inskyreads is doing for their Blogmas posts. Feel free to check them out!

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

According to Goodreads, I have been reading Then She Was Gone for FOUR MONTHS. It’s a very good book, but 2020 has been a mess and caused me to go into a slump and lose passion for the book community and blogging as well. Luckily my break of sorts has rejuvenated my passion so here I am. I have less than 50 pages left so hopefully I can finish it by the end of this week and maybe even post a review! But if I keep getting distracted I did plan specific days to read and if that doesn’t work I’ll post in January. Lord help me.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

I am notorious for book slumps just because my health is kind of iffy at times and I tend to get distracted very easily. So whatever I’m reading I read. However, I did originally plan to read The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie once I was done with the book I’m reading right now. However, that may be subject to change. Unfortunately when I did the Olympic Games Readathon (a readathon inspired by Percy Jackson and greek mythology) my health crashed because of college finals. However, I do plan to finish it (even though it’s been long over) just for peace of mind. 

Is there a new release you’re still waiting for? 

I don’t really look into new releases just because there are new books released every day and I just don’t have the money or time to keep up with them all. I’m super interested in The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. A ton of other books that I’m interested in aren’t super new releases. 

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

I’m not going to even answer this one. 

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

Then She Was Gone is getting super intense right now, especially since it’s towards the end of the book. So much so that I have to do deep breathing to get through some of the pages. However, I don’t think it’s going to top Slay by Brittney Morris. It’s a fantastic read and as a writer and reader I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. And that’s saying something. 

Have you already started making reading plans for 2021?

I would like to finish the 2020 Olympic Games Readathon (yes I KNOW I’m super late) and just complete the prompts. I also want to finish a combo of older books that are family owned and some that I’ve bought this year. This year I’ve read a ton of more darker themed books, especially surrounding death and murder. So I’m hoping to read more fantasy related books. 

If any of you would like to join me in this tag, feel free to tag me in your post so I can read it! If you haven’t noticed, I also edited my entire website as well. It took me a lot of time and effort, so I hope you like it. I’m going to do a few last minute touches soon but for the most part, this is it! 

I’m curious though, has 2020 caused you to read MORE or LESS? Have you been more productive because of quarantine? Please let me know!

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

The Stay at Home Book Tag

Posted on by Rachel Hall

I originally saw this tag from Amy’s Bookish Life (amysbooksishlifeblog.wordpress.com), and because the person I wanted to interview for this blog was busy this week, here we are. Feel free to check their blog out.

  1. Laying in Bed–A book you read in a day

When I was doing my 24 hour reading challenge, I read both Slay by Brittney Morris and Happyface by Stephen Emond in a day. Even though it was exhausting, it was a lot of fun getting so much reading done in so little time. I felt super productive. I’m tempted to do it again…

2. Snacking–A book that is a guilty pleasure read

I have to say any Jenny Colgan book. I tend to read very dark books but decided to read The Bookshop on the Corner and later The Bookshop on the Shore since I wanted something more wholesome. To be honest, even though some of it was predictable, I really liked them!

3. Netflix–A series you want to start

There are so many series I want to start but one on the top of my list is to reread the Percy Jackson series. I read the first series and really liked them but the second series was a miss for me. I’m hoping if I reread it, I’ll think differently. Also, because I read it around 10 years ago, I honestly don’t remember much.

4. Deep Clean–A book that has been on your TBR for ages

There’s quite a few but on the top of my head I’d say the Harry Potter series. I’ve read it before, but I planned to reread it when I turned 18 but my health problems got in the way. The only reason I can recall anything from Harry Potter is because of the movies and because of tumblr.

5. Animal Crossing–A book you bought recently because of the hype

I bought The Institute by Stephen King for 50% off at Barnes and Noble because I kept seeing ads for it on my feed. I also bought The Handmaid’s Tale as well. Both are also on my TBR for The Percy Jackson readathon and I’m very excited for both!

6. Productivity–A book you learned from or had an impact on you

The first thing that comes to mind is Slay by Britney Morris. I didn’t really know a lot about what it was like to be a minority really besides reading posts on Twitter so Slay was definitely an eye opener on what it was like to be a black woman. So much so that I almost cried.

7. Facetime–A book you were gifted

My friend Jay and I trade books and return them once we’re done so we can talk about them together and have our own book club. Happyface by Stephen Emond was one of those books.

8. Self Care–What is one thing you have done recently to look after yourself

I’ve been doing a lot of crafts such as coloring, extreme dot-to-dot pages, and finger knitting. I like feeling accomplished after finishing a piece.

9. Bonus–An upcoming release you are looking forward to

I tend not to focus on books coming out because my TBR is so big and I’m seriously behind because I stopped reading a couple years when I had serious health problems and was unable to. However I am looking forward to the new Percy Jackson show Rick Riordan is in charge of. I don’t watch a lot of shows, but I may make room for this one.

Anyone who is reading this is welcome to participate in this tag!

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

Olympic Games Readathon

Posted on by Rachel Hall

After being gone on here (and the internet in general) due to exams, one of the biggest things I missed was reading. Even though I’m still a part of a reading group (please check out Literary Society of Alexandria on Twitter if you’re into Egyptian mythology and readathons) I still didn’t have motivation to read as much as I did before my exams. Mainly because I’m just….tired. So when I found The Olympic Games on Twitter, a readathon based on Percy Jackson and Greek Mythology in general, I was more than excited.

To be quite honest, I haven’t read Percy Jackson in a hot minute. But, it is definitely on my list for a reread. I was not fond of The Heroes of Olympus, but I’m willing to give it another shot. What I am fond of is mythology. Mythology in general is definitely an interesting topic, and I give kudos to Rick Riordan for writing books about ancient mythologies that gravitate towards kids and young adults alike.

Anyway, I was hoping to do a readathon based on Hecate, Artemis, or maybe even Apollo, but almost as if I was chosen by the god himself, my books ended up best alligning with Zeus.

Yes. That Zeus. As in, King of the Gods, major player, Mister Lightning kind of Zeus.

To be quite clear I always saw Zeus as a jerk, but in Percy Jackson, if I remember correctly, the Zeus cabin was quite small. And even in the discord, the Zeus cabin is indeed small. As of today there are three people.

The Advanced Challenges are also themed book challenges for when you’re done with the other 5.

To honour the king of the gods, read a book featuring a king Honestly for this prompt I have nothing on me. But when I’m done with the other prompts I’ll probably make this one an audiobook or ebook from my library app.

Thalia’s Tree: Read a book with a tree on the cover For this book I have Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell which is about a mother who lost her child 10 years ago and is reminded of all the questions regarding her disappearance when she meets her lover’s child.

Read the longest book on your TBR For this book I chose The Institute by Stephen King which is over 500 pages. It’s about a kid who is kidnapped after his parents are murdered and is trapped in the Institute, a place where children are forced to test their supernatural powers or suffer severe consequences.

Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen again and you must set out on a quest to find it. Read a book that features a high-stakes quest. The book I chose was Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. It’s about siblings torn from their family and put in jail for witchcraft along with thousands of other people. I have a feeling there will be a quest to defeat the regime and evil tyrant involved.

Heracles: Read a popular book that everyone talks about. The book I chose was The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, which features a dystopian future where women who are fertile are enslaved to repopulate the nation.

If you would like to check out either the reading group I’m in or the Percy Jackson readathon, here are the official twitter accounts:

Posted in Book Reviews, Wrap Ups and Challenges

24 Hour Readathon Results

Posted on by Rachel Hall

Hi, I meant to post this on Friday as I usually do, but I wasn’t finished with all my book reviews yet from this readathon, and honestly I just needed sleep. If you missed my 24 Hour Readathon vlog, feel free to see it on my Instagram. It’s in, “OWLS 2020.”

instagram.com/reliving_rachel

My goal for this was to finish at least one book, but what I really wanted to do was finish my OWLS for the Magical Readathon, which was 3 books total. What ended up happening was that I finished two and was 75% done with the last one, “The Immortalists,” by Chloe Benjamin. After a couple days of rest I finally finished it and managed to write all three reviews.

“It was the same mask though, wearing this smile even when I didn’t mean it that opened me up to talk and how I felt inside but wasn’t always able to show. In some ways it made me actually more genuine.”

I finished Happyface by Stephen Emond in less than a day. It was like Diary of a Wimpy Kid but with what makes YA so great to me, dark themes such as alcoholism and divorce. I rated it 4 stars. If you would like to read the full review, here’s the link:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3244766521?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
“As we duel, as we chat, there’s an understanding that “your black is not my black” and “your weird is not my weird” and “your beautiful is not my beautiful” and that’s okay.”

This book I finished most of at the end of my first 12 hours and then some of the next day for my next 12 hours. There’s not a lot of books I would rate 5 stars but this one is one of them. Although I know what it’s like to be a woman, I wasn’t knowledgeable what it was like to be black or even a black woman, but this book definitely educated me. Most of all, it made me scream, nearly cry, and of course root for the main character. If you would like to see the full review here’s the link:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3068890867?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
“Character is fate–that’s what he said. They’re bound up, those two, like brothers and sisters. You wanna know the future?” She points at Varya with her free hand. “Look in the mirror.”

Dark books about life,death, and mortality are like my bread and butter, so this book has been on my TBR for a while. Some parts of it were fantastic and I adored most of it, but it wasn’t perfect in my eyes and had some glaring issues that I just didn’t like. I rated it 4 stars. Here’s my full review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2962251333?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Now that I’m done with my OWLs should I try another career? I was thinking of doing the Writer career, which also requires 3 books.

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

2020 Magical Readathon

Posted on by Rachel Hall

Quick Announcement: Seeing as the Corona Virus has given me more time to blog, my goal is to post once a week. After the virus is done for, I will try to continue that, but if I cannot I will go back to posting once a month.

Now let’s talk about the Magical Readathon. The readathon is a Harry Potter based challenge where you, “study,” your OWLs and NEWTs (they’re like the SAT’s of the Wizarding World.) Each subject you study for corresponds to a prompt, and this year, the certains subjects you study for correspond to a specific career you want to pursue.

Although this is my first year doing this, the readathon has occurred for 3 years, so they have plenty of prompts and career options. This year I’m going small and studying to be an astronomer.

Arithmancy: Read outside your favorite genre. For this book I am choosing Happyface by Stephen Emond. I normally don’t read Young Adult, seeing as it gets too repetitive for me and I tend to not like the tone, but my friend Jay recommended it and let me borrow it.

Astronomy: Read a majority of the book when it’s dark outside. For this book I am choosing Slay by Brittney Morris.

History of Magic: A book that features witches/wizards. For this book I am choosing The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. Technically speaking it features a psychic, but psychics tend to study witchcraft so I figured it counts.

By the time this is uploaded I will also be participating in a 24 hour reading challenge with these books as well. On Friday 4/2/20, I will start Day 1 with reading for 12 hours. Then on Day 2, I will continue to read for another 12 hours. If you can’t do the math, 12+12=24! I will frequently post updates on my Instagram story, which you can find through this link:

instagram.com/reliving_rachel

If any of you would like to join either of these challenges with me, let me know in the comments!

Posted in Wrap Ups and Challenges

January Wrap Up

Posted on by Rachel Hall

I cannot believe it is already February. It’s insane how time flies. But in a way, so many things have happened in the first month of 2020, it’s hard to believe that it all occurred in a span of just a few weeks.

I started my Spring Semester of College on January 6th, hence why my posts have been sparce lately. My goal is to have 1-2 posts a month and work my way up. However, my memory isn’t the best, so I may need to plan some dates and write it in my calendar.

Here are a few things that summed up my January. Write in the comments or write on your blog YOUR wrap ups!

Books:

U.S. History II by TopHat 3/15 chapters (for some reason there is no page numbers in the textbook)

The History of Music Expounded in Verse By Allen Webber page 23

Experience Music by Katherine Charlton page 78

Earth Science by Stanley Tarbuck page 79

The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan page 210

Favorite Things

Passionate Professors are one of the things I’m very lucky to have this semester in my classes. It’s very fun when professors are excited about what they teach, and in turn, make me excited for what I get to learn.

Animal Crossing is a wholesome game where you take care of a town that are filled with adorable creatures. I’ve played it on and off for a long time, but with the rise of Nintendo’s new Animal Crossing themed Switch, the hype is back. Right now I am playing the app version called Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, which is free on the Apple App Store. If you want to be friends, my code is 3125 1678 458.

Chicago is full of towering buildings and cold weather, but most of all, it’s cold. I live in Florida so when I went to Chicago for a wedding, it was amazing to wear layers (yes multiple layers) of clothes, and be able to stomp in the white snow. Of course, it wasn’t always white and dreamy like, but it was still there nonetheless. I went to multiple museums and landmarks, but my favorite has to be the Field Museum with their collection of rare rocks and crystals. Here is my birthstone, opal:

If you would like to see more pictures and hear more thoughts on my trip, please let me know in the comments!

Posted in Book Reviews, Wrap Ups and Challenges

My Top 5 Books of 2019 (With Reviews)

Posted on by Rachel Hall

With the beginning of 2020 among us, I decided to write in my planner my top books of 2019, to recap the year and to evaluate my..well…evaluations. Seeing as I didn’t get back into reading until November, I decided to do top 5 rather than top 10 or 20. Hopefully this year I can read even more. Here is my list, in no particular order:

  1. Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland by Dave Barry

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2961980788?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

2. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2976576298?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

3. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3051576716?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

4. Sweat by Lynn Nottage

I don’t have a review for this one so I will just put the synopsis from Goodreads here:

No stranger to dramas both heartfelt and heart-rending, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage has written one of her most exquisitely devastating tragedies to date. In one of the poorest cities in America, Reading, Pennsylvania, a group of down-and-out factory workers struggles to keep their present lives in balance, ignorant of the financial devastation looming in their near futures. Set in 2008, the powerful crux of this new play is knowing the fate of the characters long before it’s even in their sights. Based on Nottage’s extensive research and interviews with real residents of Reading, Sweat is a topical reflection of the present and poignant outcome of America’s economic decline.

I rated this book 5/5 stars.

5. The Complete History of America (Abridged) by Adam Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2961979968?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1