The Monday Mix basically
gives me the opportunity to share with all of you the links I loved
online from last week, everything from reviews to articles about writing
and perhaps other things too. I've always valued the opportunity to
share the great things I've read or seen, and this is my way to share
the love.
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Things are slowly, but surely getting back to normal here on the blog. I miss the hustle and bustle of all the events from the past few weeks. But it's also nice to get a chance to just relax and enjoy everything! I'm really making the most of things while I can because once July 31 hits, everything will be changing. Why? July 31 is the day that I'm flying back home to the Philippines for the month-long final preparations for my church wedding on September 8. I don't know yet how this will affect my blogging life, but I'll make that official announcement soon.
Here are the posts that I found very interesting last week:
1. Marissa Meyer suggests some great food choices for book clubs or groups that discuss her novels Cinder and Scarlet. My favorite? Le croque monsieur, which is fairly predictable if you know me well.
2. Another one of my favorite authors Diana Peterfreund made a special announcement last week. She is writing a middle grade (!) series (!), titled Omega City, and it sounds awesome. Seriously.
3. My friend Chachic has started a wonderful new series on her blog about chasing dreams. Last week, there was a great guest post from Francisco Stork. His story really inspired me to take that extra step and make writing a regular part of my day.
4. I never hesitate to share the amazingly creative wallpapers that my friend Elena is in the habit of producing. Her latest one is inspired by This is What Happy Looks Like. I'm loving the bright colors and summery feel!
5. Elena also has a running feature on her blog called The Sweetest Note. Last week's edition featured Rachel Shukert talking about ice cream sodas. This is one of my favorite treats for the summertime! Reading this post had me thinking that I MUST go and grab the ingredients to make one sometime this week.
6. Father's Day may have come and gone last Sunday, but Racquel and Sharon have come up with a post detailing some books that feature good/bad dads. There are a few I haven't read that I may try out. But my favorite is the mention of Sugar Daddy and Blue-Eyed Devil!
7. Seriously, Jamie is so good at coming up with awesome blog series! She resurrected her book-inspired dates feature by talking about a date inspired by Going Vintage. She made some pretty solid suggestions! My favorite - cooking, board games and ice cream!
8. Yesterday, thanks to Erin Bowman, I read this deleted scene from Something Strange & Deadly from Daniel's POV from Susan Dennard. I may or may not have nearly crashed into a metal pole while I was walking to work. Love seeing more of Daniel! My tweet pretty much says it all:
9. Jodi Meadows has earned a loyal (and excitable) fan in me through her first series, which includes Incarnate and Asunder. You can imagine how overjoyed I was when I heard the exciting news about her new book, The Orphan Queen, the first of a duology! If you wonder why I think you should read this book, here's a tweet with MY reasons for being excited to read it:
10. Author Marissa Meyer shares some really practical tips for "recharging your batteries". My favorite is definitely the one about reading - though I certainly tend to indulge in that all the time, instead of writing. Clearly, I should remedy that.
11. Veronica Roth made my year when she announced that she was writing four short stories from Four's point of view. I love Four, so clearly, these stories are going to be must reads for me! I can't wait to get to know him even better.
12. It was a lot of fun to read Susan Dennard's recap of the Young Authors Give Back tour! I was lucky enough to catch all four authors at BEA, but I do wish I'd been able to attend their workshops. From what I heard, they were amazing! I admire them for doing this tour and hopefully, they do it again!
13. When Diana Peterfreund first mentioned loving Edmund Pevensie in An Author a (Mon)day, I was really glad because I love the Chronicles of Narnia. She shared this awesome essay she wrote - King Edmund the Cute - which is only up as a free sample for one week!
14. My awesome friend Jen was able to catch the Fierce Reads tour in her town. She posted an interview (which includes a giveaway!). Go and enter hers, and then go and enter my giveaway for more chances to win awesome Fierce Reads prizes!
15. Estelle and Magan shared some awesome products in their "beach bags" post. I absolutely adored seeing all the beach stuff, and of course, the books they picked were pretty great too. I'm obsessed with the striped towels from Target and the picnic basket from Kate Spade!
16. Honestly, as I read Amy's post about her Five Favorite Things about The Scorpio Races, it made me want to do an (immediate) re-read. While I currently can't manage that, I suggest you check out this post! It also marks the start of an awesome new feature on her blog, which I love.
17. Want to see something really random and fun? My friend Betty and her husband Mr. Betty had a Chipotle eating contest and it's seriously the most amusing thing ever.
18. It makes me happy that I was able to help Cassie come up with such an interesting discussion post. What type of blogger are you - a planner or a spontaneous one? And how do you choose what you read next?
19. Hannah is starting up a new feature on her blog called History with Hannah, where she shares a few basic things about historical fiction titles that she's been reading. The first of these posts, about The Fever Tree, is really good!
20. It's always fun to read writing advice from authors. Robin Benway shares what she's learned "in the trenches", and I found it really practical - particularly the part where she says it's okay to "hate writing" during the bad days.
21. When Estelle writes a review like this one she wrote for Dangerous Girls, she manages to convince me that I need that book in my life, stat.
22. Thanks to Amy, I discovered this awesome list of books with dragons in them from Anya. You all know that I love dragons, so I definitely will be keeping tabs on this list of books and trying to read them all!
23. Jamie celebrated three years of blogging, and she wrote this awesome heartfelt post that I really liked. Jamie is one of the nicest people I know, and she's a wonderful presence in the book blogging community. She has great ideas for features + writes cool posts! Plus, she and I do share a love of travel and that longing for something more...
24. One of my favorite things about Betty is that she's passionate about living as healthy a life as possible. Her latest post for her EcoBetty series is about cleaning products, and I'm certainly going to take her suggestions to heart.
25. Cassie made me really think hard with her post about numbers for her weekly discussion. Numbers are indeed one of those things about blogging that prove to be interesting. Personally, I consider them encouragement and inspiration; but overall, I just blog because I love it. (This post also allowed me to read Amanda's post on entitlement, which I also liked!)
26. I've always thought Margot was extremely talented. This latest fauxto she did for Another Little Piece simply blew me away. It's simple, but it's effective in grabbing the viewer's attention - and making them (really, me) curious about the moment from the story that she's conveying.
27. You guys already know that I'm a huge fan of Mandee and her blog that features manicures that matches books. (My particular favorite is the Shadow & Bone one - which is gorgeous!) She, along with a couple of other bloggers, is featured in this Book Riot post!
28. I'll admit that I was very wary about September Girls. The mixed reviews certainly gave me pause, as well as the fact that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to really get into this book. This brilliant interview, composed of thoughtful questions from Elena and answered by Bennett Madison, however, has made me reconsider.
29. Author Samantha Shannon really makes me think with her posts about writing. She's been talking about world-building lately, and I love her reflections on the world-building in Crown of Midnight.
Here are the posts that I found very interesting last week:
1. Marissa Meyer suggests some great food choices for book clubs or groups that discuss her novels Cinder and Scarlet. My favorite? Le croque monsieur, which is fairly predictable if you know me well.
2. Another one of my favorite authors Diana Peterfreund made a special announcement last week. She is writing a middle grade (!) series (!), titled Omega City, and it sounds awesome. Seriously.
3. My friend Chachic has started a wonderful new series on her blog about chasing dreams. Last week, there was a great guest post from Francisco Stork. His story really inspired me to take that extra step and make writing a regular part of my day.
4. I never hesitate to share the amazingly creative wallpapers that my friend Elena is in the habit of producing. Her latest one is inspired by This is What Happy Looks Like. I'm loving the bright colors and summery feel!
5. Elena also has a running feature on her blog called The Sweetest Note. Last week's edition featured Rachel Shukert talking about ice cream sodas. This is one of my favorite treats for the summertime! Reading this post had me thinking that I MUST go and grab the ingredients to make one sometime this week.
6. Father's Day may have come and gone last Sunday, but Racquel and Sharon have come up with a post detailing some books that feature good/bad dads. There are a few I haven't read that I may try out. But my favorite is the mention of Sugar Daddy and Blue-Eyed Devil!
7. Seriously, Jamie is so good at coming up with awesome blog series! She resurrected her book-inspired dates feature by talking about a date inspired by Going Vintage. She made some pretty solid suggestions! My favorite - cooking, board games and ice cream!
8. Yesterday, thanks to Erin Bowman, I read this deleted scene from Something Strange & Deadly from Daniel's POV from Susan Dennard. I may or may not have nearly crashed into a metal pole while I was walking to work. Love seeing more of Daniel! My tweet pretty much says it all:
9. Jodi Meadows has earned a loyal (and excitable) fan in me through her first series, which includes Incarnate and Asunder. You can imagine how overjoyed I was when I heard the exciting news about her new book, The Orphan Queen, the first of a duology! If you wonder why I think you should read this book, here's a tweet with MY reasons for being excited to read it:
10. Author Marissa Meyer shares some really practical tips for "recharging your batteries". My favorite is definitely the one about reading - though I certainly tend to indulge in that all the time, instead of writing. Clearly, I should remedy that.
11. Veronica Roth made my year when she announced that she was writing four short stories from Four's point of view. I love Four, so clearly, these stories are going to be must reads for me! I can't wait to get to know him even better.
12. It was a lot of fun to read Susan Dennard's recap of the Young Authors Give Back tour! I was lucky enough to catch all four authors at BEA, but I do wish I'd been able to attend their workshops. From what I heard, they were amazing! I admire them for doing this tour and hopefully, they do it again!
13. When Diana Peterfreund first mentioned loving Edmund Pevensie in An Author a (Mon)day, I was really glad because I love the Chronicles of Narnia. She shared this awesome essay she wrote - King Edmund the Cute - which is only up as a free sample for one week!
14. My awesome friend Jen was able to catch the Fierce Reads tour in her town. She posted an interview (which includes a giveaway!). Go and enter hers, and then go and enter my giveaway for more chances to win awesome Fierce Reads prizes!
15. Estelle and Magan shared some awesome products in their "beach bags" post. I absolutely adored seeing all the beach stuff, and of course, the books they picked were pretty great too. I'm obsessed with the striped towels from Target and the picnic basket from Kate Spade!
16. Honestly, as I read Amy's post about her Five Favorite Things about The Scorpio Races, it made me want to do an (immediate) re-read. While I currently can't manage that, I suggest you check out this post! It also marks the start of an awesome new feature on her blog, which I love.
17. Want to see something really random and fun? My friend Betty and her husband Mr. Betty had a Chipotle eating contest and it's seriously the most amusing thing ever.
18. It makes me happy that I was able to help Cassie come up with such an interesting discussion post. What type of blogger are you - a planner or a spontaneous one? And how do you choose what you read next?
19. Hannah is starting up a new feature on her blog called History with Hannah, where she shares a few basic things about historical fiction titles that she's been reading. The first of these posts, about The Fever Tree, is really good!
20. It's always fun to read writing advice from authors. Robin Benway shares what she's learned "in the trenches", and I found it really practical - particularly the part where she says it's okay to "hate writing" during the bad days.
21. When Estelle writes a review like this one she wrote for Dangerous Girls, she manages to convince me that I need that book in my life, stat.
22. Thanks to Amy, I discovered this awesome list of books with dragons in them from Anya. You all know that I love dragons, so I definitely will be keeping tabs on this list of books and trying to read them all!
23. Jamie celebrated three years of blogging, and she wrote this awesome heartfelt post that I really liked. Jamie is one of the nicest people I know, and she's a wonderful presence in the book blogging community. She has great ideas for features + writes cool posts! Plus, she and I do share a love of travel and that longing for something more...
24. One of my favorite things about Betty is that she's passionate about living as healthy a life as possible. Her latest post for her EcoBetty series is about cleaning products, and I'm certainly going to take her suggestions to heart.
25. Cassie made me really think hard with her post about numbers for her weekly discussion. Numbers are indeed one of those things about blogging that prove to be interesting. Personally, I consider them encouragement and inspiration; but overall, I just blog because I love it. (This post also allowed me to read Amanda's post on entitlement, which I also liked!)
26. I've always thought Margot was extremely talented. This latest fauxto she did for Another Little Piece simply blew me away. It's simple, but it's effective in grabbing the viewer's attention - and making them (really, me) curious about the moment from the story that she's conveying.
27. You guys already know that I'm a huge fan of Mandee and her blog that features manicures that matches books. (My particular favorite is the Shadow & Bone one - which is gorgeous!) She, along with a couple of other bloggers, is featured in this Book Riot post!
28. I'll admit that I was very wary about September Girls. The mixed reviews certainly gave me pause, as well as the fact that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to really get into this book. This brilliant interview, composed of thoughtful questions from Elena and answered by Bennett Madison, however, has made me reconsider.
29. Author Samantha Shannon really makes me think with her posts about writing. She's been talking about world-building lately, and I love her reflections on the world-building in Crown of Midnight.
-----
I'm hosting a little event called Sizzle & Swoon with Racquel & Sharon! We've been having a blast talking about romances - everything from characters, to genres, to tropes and more. You can check out all of the posts that are up so far below:
on Alexa Loves Books:
on The Book Barbies:
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Also, in case you missed out on last week's posts, here they are for easy reference. I hope you check them out, if you haven't already!
As part of the blog tour, go and check out the excerpt and giveaway for In Too Deep.
If you're looking for an action-packed story, try The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die.
I
hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I did! Now it's YOUR turn
- are there any posts (on your blog or other blogs) from last week that
I missed out on? Please feel free to share links in the comments and
I'll try to check them out.
Thanks for sharing all the wonderful links. I have been loving the romance novel posts also.
ReplyDeleteSo many fun links!!! I'm especially excited about Diana Peterfreund's Narnia essay! Thanks for sharing that! :)
ReplyDeleteI always look forward to these posts!! I don't even bother trying to find great posts anymore-- I just wait for you to tell me. ;) hahaha Thanks for including some of mine!!! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for including in your round up!!
ReplyDelete