Under The Book Cover: blog tag

Blogtober 2022 Day 17: The Autumn Tag

autumn tag 12:00:00 PM

Hi hello ghouls and goblins and welcome to Blogtober day 17! Today, I’ll be doing a wonderfully cozy book tag called The Autumn Tag by Jenniely. I did this tag back in 2019 and I’m really curious as to how my answers may have changed since then! Jenniely has been one of my favorite bloggers for many years and I just love how this tag really embodies everything that I love about the Fall season. So grab a blanket, and a hot drink, and let’s get started!
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1. Hot Chocolate: What is your comfort book?

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Okay I know I’m starting off with a totally unexpected pick here, but it genuinely is my comfort book. Where Vicious helped me during cancer, Addie helped me navigate life after cancer. And I know that constantly bringing up the fact that I had cancer is probably annoying at this point, but it’s a part of me. Something about Addie just helped me through a difficult time when I was trying to figure out what to do next. I was lost and this book was like a helping hand guiding me through a dark time. It means so much to me.

2. Pumpkin Carving: What is your favorite creative outlet?

Writing! I just finished a book by a friend of mine and it really inspired me to get off my butt and finally write a book like I’ve always wanted to do. I’m pretty sure I said I was working on a book in 2019 but clearly nothing came of that. I have a solid idea currently and I’m hoping I can actually go somewhere with it this year! But writing has always been a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings, even when I have a hard time verbally communicating them. It’s such a big part of my life, whether it’s me trying to write a book or writing a fun blog post, I’m always writing in some way and I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I just wish I would finally write a book!

3. Falling Leaves: Changes that appear bad but you secretly love?

Book cover changes! I think this is a repeat answer but I actually don't mind cover changes. Unless, of course, it's in the middle of a series. I hate when the covers don't match. But in a case like the new Throne of Glass covers where they're all being redone, I like when it happens! I guess it just all has to do with what the new covers look like? I feel like it gives more people a chance to discover the books that are getting cover changes which is always good!

4. Pumpkin Spiced Latte: Something you love that others tend to judge

To literally no one’s surprise, my answer is exactly the same as my last time doing this tag. I have a thing where I get multiple copies of the same book and my husband, Jamie, does not understand why. Sure, it’s the same book, but there are so many different editions and just like Pokémon, I gotta catch ‘em all! I currently have 13 copies of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and I’m still working on finding some more of the beautiful foreign editions that I’ve seen. I just want to have all (or as many as I can) of the editions of my favorite books because it makes me happy, you know?

5. Bonfire Night: What makes you explode with joy?

My little family, hands down. Sora just turned 4 and we’re about to celebrate his 4th name-day! And Jamie and I just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! We’ve had a rough go throughout the years but getting to spend my life with him has been such an adventure. I never would have imagined that the boy I fell head over heels for when I was 14 would be the one that I ended up getting a corgi with. Oh, and get married too as well, I guess. But we all know getting a dog together is a much bigger step, right? I just love my boys with all of my heart and they really do bring me so much joy on a daily basis. I’m so lucky to have them 🤍

6. Fright Night: Favorite scary book or film

My favorite scary book of 2022 is probably Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. I just read it recently and it actually gave me some chills and spooked me quite a bit! And it’s a middle-grade book that blows my mind. It was so atmospheric and the writing did a great job of pulling me in and creeping me out. I’m reading the sequel, Dead Voices, and I’m really enjoying it so far. Definitely, an unexpected turn of events for me as I don’t read a lot of middle-grade books, but I’m so happy I picked this one up!

As for my favorite scary film of 2022, that goes to Halloween Ends. I have an entire post dedicated to the Halloween series if you’d like to check it out and see me gush about how much I love the series! It was just such a fantastic ending to the trilogy and you can’t change my mind. I know it’s pretty controversial but it’s an amazing film, in my opinion, and is easily my favorite horror film of the year. An honorable mention goes to the new Hellraiser film because man was that fantastic!

7. Halloween Candy: Favorite thing to eat

I absolutely love sour candy! Anything sour and gummy is the perfect combination for me. I actually have a container of the Toxic Waste candy on my desk right now! Sadly, I have yet to find anything that is too sour for me, but I'm still searching.

8. Scarves: Your Autumn must-have accessory

My heated blanket, oh my gosh. I finally got one last year after wanting one for years and it is amazing. I suffer from chronic pain so having my heated blanket on hand is very helpful to help me relax and be comfortable if I’m having a bad pain day. Which is quite often, unfortunately. But I have no idea how I lived without a heated blanket for so long! Everyone needs to get one so go put it on your wishlist.

9. Fire: A book or film that burns your soul

I’m interpreting this to be a positive and am going with Nightstrider by Sophia Slade! I’ve been following Sophia’s journey to publishing this book on TikTok and holy crap it is everything and then some. It lit a fire in my soul and has left a mark on me forever. I’m so excited for the sequel and to read any and everything that Sophia publishes in the future. She’s an incredible author and human and I’m just so in love with what she has created with this book and the world.

10. Toffee Apples: A book or film that seems one thing but really has a different inside

I'm picking something with a really good plot twist and that's the film Us! This is one of my favorite horror films and it has a super shocking plot twist that still gets me all these years later. It took me one viewing of this film to know that it was going on my all-time favorites list and it's absolutely still there. I love the way Jordan Peele makes his films because they're so unique and unlike anything I've seen.

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And that does it for the Autumn Tag! This is always a fun and quick tag that really gets me in the Fall season spirit. I would love to know if you've done the Autumn Tag or even just tell me what your favorite scary book or film is! Let me know in the comments below so I can add your recommendation to my TBR or my spooky film list. Tomorrow is day 18 and I'll be doing a spooky book review so come back to check out what that will be. Thanks for stopping by and I'll scare ya later!

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Blogmas 2018 Day 4: Bookish Naughty or Nice List!

blog tag 7:10:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to Blogmas 2018! I'm so excited to be doing Blogmas this year and I'm happy to share that I will be following the incredible Jenniely's prompts all month long. I highly encourage you to go check out her amazing blog and join in on the Blogmas fun! Today, I'll be doing the Bookish Naughty or Nice tag that she has created and I can't wait to see which list I'm on for the year! Let's get festive!
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Received an ARC and not reviewed it- Naughty

Oh goodness, I am so guilty of this! It's not something I'm proud of but it does happen, unfortunately. I'm playing major catch up this year because I was dealing with cancer most of this year and it set me back quite a bit, but I'm slowly catching up! I'm not too unhappy or punishing myself because, I mean, I was battling cancer, I'm just working on catching up with my reviews.

Have less than 60% feedback rating on Netgalley- Nice!

Woo! Normally I'm at about 80-82% but I recently got approved for two books (one of them is Wicked Saints and guys, I'm addicted) so my rating went down a bit. As you can see, I do have...quite a bit of reviewing to catch up on, but I'm getting there!

Rated a book on Goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog (and never did)- Naughty

Calling myself out here but this is my "review" of Vicious which I clearly finished two months ago and still haven't posted a full review. Oops. I also still haven't finished Vengeful but that's because I'm drawing it out as much as possible so that I don't have to let go of the characters I've come to love. But yeah, this is one of probably many "RTC" posts on my Goodreads.

Folded down the page of a book- Nice!

I WOULD NEVER. It's painful to watch someone dog-ear a page in a book. Of course, everyone is welcome to do what they want to their books, but it kills me to watch.

Accidentally spilled on a book- Nice!
Surprisingly, no! I'm very careful around my books and even though I do eat/drink around them and while reading, I've never spilled anything on my books. Although now that I've said that, I'm probably going to spill everything all over all of my books somehow.

DNF a book this year- Naughty

Yes, but I don't think this is a bad thing. If I don't like a book, I'm not going to continue to read it and waste my time. I could be reading another book that I would probably enjoy even more and I would much rather read a book I like than force myself to read something I don't even like.

Bought a book purely because it was pretty with no intention of reading it- Naughty

Do it for the aesthetic.

Read whilst you were meant to be doing something else (like homework)- Naughty

I mean, who hasn't completely shelved their responsibilities to keep reading a book that they were really enjoying? I know I'm not the only one!

Skim read a book- Nice!

Nope! Even if I'm reading a book where the author takes twenty pages to describe a chair (looking at you, Stephen King) I will still read all of the pages. I don't want to accidentally miss any details!

Completely missed your Goodreads goal- Nice!
Okay, I'm gonna say nice for this one because I actually did beat my goal of 12 books this year. I started setting goals on Goodreads in 2014 so let's see my read compared to my goal:

2014: 6/100
2015: 7/100

2016: 57/50

2017: 97/100

2018: 16/12 (so far)

Obviously, little noob bookish Megan was ambitious with her goals of 100 books back in the day. I did almost get to 100 in 2017 but was diagnosed with cancer in November so that kind of...killed the rest of my year and my desire to read. But I still think I've done well from 2016 and on!

Borrowed a book and not returned it- Nice!

No, I return any books I borrow and I always will. There's a story about me loaning books out and never getting them back that still makes me angry to this day. I loaned out my SIGNED PERSONALIZED copies of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse to two friends in 2007 and still, to this day, have not gotten them back. One girl has blocked me and the other just ignores my messages. I'm heartbroken and will never loan out another book again but I am still fighting to get my books back!

Broke a book buying ban- Nice!
Can't break something you've never gone on, right?

Started a review, left it for ages then forgot what the book was about- Naughty

I have so many drafts on my blog that are reviews that I just...forgot to finish. And now it's been so long that I don't even remember what the book was about so if I wanted to finish writing the review, I would have to go back and read the book again. So, yes, I have done this.

Wrote in a book you were reading- Nice!

This is along the same lines of folding a book page down. Just...nope. Although I would make an exception if I was doing a traveling book!

Finished a book and not added it to your Goodreads- Naughty

Although to be fair, I've only fairly recently been actively keeping up with my Goodreads account and adding books to it.

Borrowed a book and not returned it to a friend- Nice!
See my rather long and drawn out story above regarding books and not having them returned. Hashtag rage.

Dodged someone asking if they can borrow a book- Naughty

Thankfully, no one has asked if they can borrow any of my books in years, but I would straight up say no now. I love my books too much to let them go and now I just don't trust anyone to give them back. It's unfortunate but my experience in lending books out is not a good one.

Broke the spine of someone else’s book- Nice!

I don't tend to borrow books from other people and if I do, I make sure to return it how I got it!

Took the jacket off a book to protect it and ended up making it more damaged- Nice!

I'm very careful with books so I don't really damage them at all! They are the precious.

Sat on a book accidentally- Nice!

My books are kept on my desk when I'm not reading them so I definitely have never sat on one! Although I have sat on my Kindle before which does have ebooks...does that count?

Final score: 12 Nice, 8 Naughty

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And that's it for the Naughty or Nice tag and day four of Blogmas! Looks like I'm on the Nice list this year, but only by a little bit! I started a bit late but I'm excited to participate this year, especially with all of these fun post prompts from Jenniely. Be sure to check out her blog linked above and let me know if you decide to join in on Blogmas this month. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow for another day of Blogmas!

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NaNoWriMo Tag!

am writing 5:17:00 PM

Hi hello and welcome to the NaNoWriMo tag! This tag was created by Kristina Horner so be sure and go check out her awesome video for her answers and subscribe to her channel for some really great content! If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, where you basically aim to write 50,000 words towards a novel during the month of November. I've tried to participate for several years in a row but never actually follow through, unfortunately. But 2018 seems to be the year I'll actually make some progress! So, to celebrate, I decided to do this tag! Let's get started!
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1. How many times have you done NaNoWriMo?
Successfully? Zero. I've actually never won a NaNoWriMo because I tend to just stop and/or give up at some point during the month. Whether it's because I just forget to write or lose interest in my WIP, I've never followed through with any of my projects. I've had my NaNo account for 7 years but have only participated and documented my progress twice, I believe. Once in 2016, and this year!

2. How did you first find out about NaNoWriMo?
Wow, I honestly can't remember! I've had my account for seven years and when I try to think back on how I discovered this, I can't remember a thing. I may have found it through watching some video on YouTube probably? But don't hold me to that!

3. What was the name of the first novel you attempted with NaNo?
Don't laugh. I named it Kingdom of Emmawrath and it was the one I attempted in 2016. I was super proud of it and was determined that it was going to be the book that made me a NYT Bestselling Author. It's currently still in progress somewhere, oops.

4. Give us a 1 sentence summary of what you’re writing this year.

I don't have my elevator pitch yet (somehow) but I'll get one eventually. For now, I'll say...two girls (a human and an alien) teaming up to fight against wrongful experimentation and finding friendship (and probably love) in the process. It sounds so terrible when I put it like that, oh no.

5. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?

Basically, anything that V.E. Schwab says. I'm serious, she is my absolute idol when it comes to writing. Some of my favorites from her are:

I'm not writing a book, I'm writing a chapter.

I'm not writing a chapter, I'm writing a page.

I'm not writing a page, I'm writing a line.

“This is just a change of setting, a new storyline, a fresh chapter. We have a whole book to write," she says, squeezing me around the shoulders, "and how do we write it?"

"One page at a time.” (Quote from her book City of Ghosts)

She has so many more and she's so open about her writing process and is always giving out fantastic advice to people who ask. I just can't say enough nice things about her!

6. Did you ever take a year off from NaNo? Why?
Well, yeah, but honestly? It was because I forgot. And I also spent the first week of November 2017 in the hospital and got diagnosed with cancer that same week and started treatment and all of that so I didn't really have the ability to do pretty much anything.

7. What's your biggest inspiration when figuring out what to write?

Sometimes I just get random ideas and I try to write down keywords that I'll remember and then try to string something together from the nonsense that I come up with. I had my fiance help me with my 2016 project actually and he helped me work on a ton of worldbuilding stuff! But inspiration for me comes from all kinds of stuff. Honestly, and I know here I go again, V.E. Schwab is a huge fountain of inspiration and I just really aspire to be even like, 1/4th as good of a writer as she is one day.

8. Read us the first sentence from one of your novels.

"They say that in space, no one can hear you scream. But that didn’t stop him from trying."

That's from my current work in progress I'm calling Space Book because I cannot come up with a title at all. Did I mention I've been planning out this book for several months now? Because I have. And I still don't have a title. Go me.

9. Why do you love writing?

I've loved writing since I was very young, I'd say probably elementary school? It's always been something that I've consistently loved and wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I've dreamt about being an author for years and years and while I don't think it'll ever actually happen for me, I'll still continue to write because I love it. It's something that allows me to just create stories that I think are fun and share them with people. It makes me happy, to put it simply.
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And that's it for the NaNoWriMo tag! I had a lot of fun doing this and talking a bit about my love of writing and what I'm doing this month. I've been a bit behind with posting because I'm lazy and because I've been caught up in the first week of NaNo so I thought this would be a fun tag to share! I'd love to know some of your answers to these questions so feel free to pick some and share your answers in the comments. Or, if you've done this tag, give me the link and I'll go check it out! If you'd like to add me as a NaNoWriMo buddy, my link is below. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next chapter!

https://nanowrimo.org/participants/megannelle

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The Book Blogger Insider Tag!

a little slice of jamie 12:00:00 PM

Hi hello and welcome to the Book Blogger Insider tag! I recently discovered this over on Howling Libraries book blog (be sure to go check out her post!) and thought that since it's a new year, I'd give this tag a go and give my readers a chance to get to know a bit about me as a blogger. Ready? Let's get started!

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WHERE DO YOU TYPICALLY WRITE YOUR BLOG POSTS?

At my computer desk on my computer! I've tried in the past to work on my Kindle but I just can't type fast enough to get out all that I want to say without things getting jumbled.

HOW LONG DOES IT GENERALLY TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK REVIEW?

I wish I could say that it takes me no time at all between finishing a book and writing a review, but it generally takes me a fair bit of time. I used to be able to finish a book and pump out a review in no time, but I've recently had to slow down in my day to day life so reviews and reading are definitely taking longer to get finished. I hope to be able to pick back up my normal reading/reviewing pace soon, though!

WHEN DID YOU START YOUR BOOK BLOG?

January 2014! So, I guess this month is my four year anniversary? Happy blog-iversary to me!

WHAT IS THE WORST THING ABOUT HAVING A BOOK BLOG IN YOUR OPINION?

I, personally, feel a constant pressure to read the new releases and review them as soon as possible. I feel like no one wants to read the reviews of older books that I read and enjoy so why should I post them, you know? But I still love reading older books and sharing my thoughts on them on my blog and I will continue to do that! I just still feel the pressure to stay on top of new releases and like I should be reading and reviewing them to stay relevant in the community.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT HAVING A BOOK BLOG IN YOUR OPINION?

Getting to share my love of books with other book lovers! There's nothing quite like getting to blab on about a book and find out someone else enjoyed it just as much as you did.

WHAT BLOG POST HAVE YOU HAD THE MOST FUN WRITING SO FAR?

#LoveAThon: Mini Challenge # 6: Valentines Day Care Package

This is by far my favorite post I've ever done! I had such a fun time participating in the LoveAThon last year (and can't wait for this year!) and I had so much fun putting together the care package for Cath from Heartless. I was head over heels for that book at the time so all of my posts had Cath and/or Heartless in them and this was my favorite of those posts.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF BLOG POST TO WRITE?

I love writing reviews, honestly. I just enjoy getting to share how I felt about a book, whether it's positive or negative. While I used to be hesitant to say anything other than positive things about a book, even if I didn't exactly enjoy it, I've gotten better about being honest and providing my reasons for disliking something but seeing where others may enjoy it.

WHEN DO YOU TYPICALLY WRITE?

I don't have a set time to write my posts, although that's something that I'd like to work on. Whenever the mood strikes me I'll hop on and throw together a tag post, or when I can manage a full review I'll just sit down and throw it out there. I'd like to start writing things in advance and scheduling them to have more consistent content in 2018!

DO YOU REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ?

Honestly, no. Some are older books and those tend to take a backseat to newer books when it comes to what review I write next. Some get small reviews that I submit via NetGalley but never post on my blog. Some just...never get reviewed.

HOW DO YOU WRITE YOUR BOOK REVIEWS? WITH A CUP OF COFFEE OR TEA? WITH NETFLIX? CUDDLED WITH YOUR FUR BABY?

I like to listen to music or watch Booktube videos while writing reviews, most of the time. Sometimes I can't focus with music/other people talking so I'll just sit in silence and work! It just varies on how I feel that day, I suppose. I do like to have on comfy socks and pajamas and bundle up in a blanket because I'm always cold!

WHEN DO YOU WRITE YOUR BOOK REVIEWS? RIGHT AFTER FINISHING THE BOOK? TWO WEEKS AFTER FINISHING THE BOOK?

I try to do it fairly soon after finishing the book just because it's still fresh in my mind. I also have notes that I take while reading just in case I forget things either from the book or things I wrote down that I want to mention in my review.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU POST?

Not often enough! But again, that's something I hope to work on this year is posting more frequently. Also, more of a variety of posts would be nice to implement!

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Thanks so much for reading and getting to know me a bit better! This tag was created by Jamie at A Little Slice of Jamie and I had so much fun doing it. I don't know anyone to tag so if you're reading this and want to do it, tag, you're it! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next chapter!

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Blogtober 2022 Day 17: The Autumn Tag

Blogmas 2018 Day 4: Bookish Naughty or Nice List!

Final score: 12 Nice, 8 Naughty

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NaNoWriMo Tag!

The Book Blogger Insider Tag!

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