The Monday Mix (10)

While I did enjoy doing A Sunday Retrospective, I've made the decision to stop posting on the weekends. I rarely open up my laptop during that time, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. The only thing that made me really sad was the fact that I would no longer have an outlet to share my favorite links from the past week. I mourned that for all of ten seconds before realizing that I could just start a new feature - and so, The Monday Mix was born.

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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I'm usually not very personal on the blog (especially lately, as you guys have been seeing event posts and reviews from me nearly every day of the week!). But last weekend, I was sorely, sorely homesick. I miss my family a whole lot. Skype and FaceTime and all the social networking sites are awesome, and I get to keep up with them through that. But it's not the same as being there in person to hug my mom or to watch movies with my dad or grab coffee with my sisters. I've been pretty melancholy, although the thought of going home cheers me up quite a bit!

But that's enough with the sadness for now. I'm usually pretty positive, so I'll try and bolster my spirits today, maybe with coffee and a pastry (or two). Plus, it's July 1 - and that means it's only 30 more days until I head for home. Here are the posts that I found very interesting last week:

1. I totally clicked on this link that Lindsey shared with Jen on Twitter. It's a very helpful post for those of us who are interested in writing fantasies. It also led me to that great Tumblr site as a writing resource!

2. Margot and I bond over our mutual love of coffee (and donuts), particularly when we need it the most (which is usually Monday morning). Last Monday, she sent me this cute graphic, which had me analyzing my coffee drinking habits. I usually go for cappuccinos or lattes. What about you?

3. I'm a little late in the game, but The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo is such a fun little folk tale. It seems so very fitting with the Grisha world that she's created, and I adored it. Fans of the series will like this a lot, even though it's a bit melancholy.

4. I read and loved the Summer series by Jenny Han, and also enjoy her co-authored series with Siobhan Vivian. I am really, really excited about her new book however, especially after seeing the gorgeous cover. You probably should add To All the Boys I've Loved to your TBR now.

5. Clearly, Harper Teen knows how to tempt me with all these gorgeous covers and one line summaries. I want to read most of these books NOW. I think I'm really excited about Infinite and Cruel Beauty :)

6. I loved what Beth Revis had to share about failure. Failure truly is not the enemy - and there's a lot we can learn from it too. This is a good read for all the aspiring writers out there!

7. Steph is one of the coolest bloggers I know, and I've been vicariously living through her travel posts on her book blog. I'm so excited that she's finally started up her very own travel blog. It'll be a joy for me to see where she goes and what she gets up to!

8. Do you want to find out how Gaby and I became friends? She includes the story in this post about making blogging friends. It's surprisingly easy to make friends in the blogging community - just don't be afraid to (1) be yourself and (2) talk to people (especially on Twitter)!

9. I've always thought that every single writer has a different way of telling their story. Kat Zhang talks a little bit more about the writer's voice, and shares an example and tips for how to recognize it.

10. Looking for fun greeting cards, specifically the kind that will appeal to fellow book nerds? Epic Reads has got your back! Here's a fun post with some really great cards. My personal favorites are the ones for Dauntless fans, for For Darkness Shows the Stars fans, for those with huge TBR piles, the blogger one, the first one and of course, the King Snarkles one!

11. Remember that time when the first chapter of Cress was posted and I freaked out a little (okay, maybe a LOT)? Yeah, that happened. You can check it out here -- and then come back and flail with me in the comments!

12. I love when Jamie rants about things that I too would rant about. She discusses one particular thing that bothers me - when people interrupt your reading!

13. One of the reasons I adore Estelle and Magan so much is because they do fun things on their blog. I like this post where they pick out clothes that match the covers of books they recommended to each other! My favorite item is probably the blue skirt among E's choices.

14. I am a big, big fan of Jodi Meadows and her books. So it's not an exaggeration to say there were tears of joy in my eyes when she revealed the real title of Songbird Story, Phoenix Overture and what it was about - my precious Sam!

15. When Victoria Schwab shares about her writing process, I always find myself in agreement. Her post about the dreaded middle part of a first draft is just so completely accurate.

16. I love Susan Dennard's practical advice about moving past your fear of not doing justice to a story or failing to write the story. It's just SO TRUE.

17. Heidi wrote an awesome post for Chachic's blog feature, Chasing Dreams. The reason I love it so is because I can relate to it! I'm only just now figuring out that life doesn't always go the way you want it to... and that is actually okay.

18. Just in time for summer vacation, Amanda's shared a couple of titles that would make a great summer reading list! I really want to read... well, ALL of them.

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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:

Review: Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

Sizzle & Swoon: Fun & Games

Review: We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Our Go-To YA Authors

Our Favorite Couples

Sizzle & Swoon: Conclusion

on The Book Barbies:

Our Favorite Heroines
Our Favorite Books from Other Subgenres
Our Favorite YA Romances
Review: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
Review: Smooth-Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
Sizzle & Swoon: Conclusion

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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!

Review + Giveaway: Fall From Love by Heather London

Fierce Reads Tour: NYC Stop Recap (+ Giveaway)

Review: Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox

Review: Ink by Amanda Sun 

Series Review: The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce

A June Retrospective

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.