Tag: buddy read

Monthly Digest · Reviews · Wrap Up

My Most Recent Read

bookishluna3 Comments

Hello and welcome to a little recap of books I have recently read and my quick thoughts on them. I have been inconsistent on my little slice of the internet and I wanted to get to a point I could do my monthly digest posts once again. The last one I wrote was Monthly Digest April 2022, so I have a few months to cover before getting in to July’s later this month.

I will admit my reading was very inconsistent as well, most likely the main reason I was not posting a ton. I wasn’t in a reading mood because I had so much going on, which left me with very little relaxation time. So, without much more rambling, here is the single book I managed to read between May and June.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

I actually buddy read this in a way with Reg and Jenna. We each took a turn reading the book, annotating it, and then sending it to the next reader. This very cute love story was just the perfect amount of cute and twists I needed and didn’t know it yet. It was really great to read on its own, I loved the story. It was imaginative, much more so than I thought going into it. The writing was inviting, I ended up actually reading this in a day or two. If that alone isn’t saying how much I enjoyed it, I don’t know what else will. I told you my reading was pretty much nonexistent, but since reading this book I have read a few more, I give this book credit for kick starting me reading. I really enjoyed the characters as well, in fact I enjoyed them so much I mentioned them and this book in my recent post. The Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag. I know I am not saying too much about the plot, but I really think I liked it so much because I knew so little about the books itself. I really only knew it was about a girl who takes the train, other than that I really knew nothing. But, like I said this book was enjoyable on its own, it was really great fun reading my friends reactions and their thoughts on everything.

I am happy to report my next wrap of reading will have much more to share. I have been bitten by the reading bug and I am really thrilled. I hope it continues in the coming months so I can share more great books with you.

Sign Off 2020
Sign off, thanks for reading!

Tumblr | Twitter | Goodreads

Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | May 2020

bookishluna7 Comments

Bullet Journal

Hello and welcome to my May bullet journal post! This is an exciting one, I started a brand new notebook this month so I have more to share than just my monthly spreads. This is going to bit of a long one, so I am going to just get into it!

Items Used

Archer & Olive A5 Garden Sliter Dot Grid notebook

SAKURA Pigma Micron Pen Set  01

So, here is my new bullet journal. This time around I went for basic black and this one has a snake on the cover. One thing I love about these notebooks is the fact they have simple decoration on the cover. To me it gives off a classic and elegant vibe.

The first page of my notebook s always a general dot grid spread. I have used this n my last three bullet journals, it is really helpful when setting up new and old spreads. I always forget how many spaces go across my page and the halfway mark so this is very helpful.

This time around I decided to add a movie tracker. This spread is inspired by cyrus.serendipity14. All I need to do now is to add all the movies I need to watch. On the second page I added a TV tracker.  This tracker is inspired by @birdybujo on Instagram. I like how simple it is, at this point Outlander is the only show added. Also, you will notice I doodled herbs and plants on each page, this will continue throughout. I thought it would be a good way to tie everything together. On these pages I have rosemary and basil.

This time around I am trying to be more away of my spending and ordering online. I have a few goals this year for myself so I want to get everything in order. This wishlist and waiting on is inspired by  bulletjournal.com. Just like the previous pages, I really want to keep everything simple with these spreads because a lot will be added later on. On these pages I added lavender and sage.

Now these two spreads are a little more involved. On the left I am adding a health centered spread to track measurements and weight. This is inspired by @bulletjournalnoob. I need to still add some gray to differentiate the lines, but I am still searching for my gray highlighter. On the right I decided I am going to draw a book for all the books on my owned tbr shelf, this is inspired by @bujoandbee. I added a few plants that are a zz plant, monstera, and thyme.

On the lefthand side I wanted a way to keep track of all of my crochet projects. I decided to make a tag for each one. On each will be the start and end date, pattern, who it is for, and yarn used. On the right I put a monthly spread layout  from emerald lotus divination. I am planning on doing this spread every month so I wanted to keep it on hand to make things a bit easier. On these pages I doodled a string of pearls and oregano. 

This is a bill tracker I used in my previous bullet journal. It is really helpful when you pay your bills you can just mark it and you don’t need to worry if you forgot. I also add what date it is due and what I pay it with. On this page I attempted to draw mint, not sure how I feel about it, but I am still glad I tried.

I have had a tracker for my followers for this blog and my twitter for the past two bullet journals, but I changed the layout this time around, I was inspired by @penspapersplanner. I just do it for every five new followers, nothing fancy. I am not much of a numbers person, but I like marking it. On these spreads I drew chives.

I will be completely honest, I took the easy way out on this spread. I just photo copied  from previous bujo because I loved how well it came out the first time I didn’t want to mess it up.

On the left I migrated by temperature blanket tracker, I have very much behind and I really need to get back to it. Maybe you will see it in my next crochet update, my latest update you can find here: Crochet Talk | April 2020. On the right I photocopied a moon doodle from the book Muse with the Moon by Jo Cauldrick. It is the perfect reference I needed to keep track of the moon and the phases in order. On this page I doodled cilantro.

I love buddy reads and I love keeping track of them. I decided to continue with a buddy reads tracker and I also just migrated my top reads of 2020 spread. I left it blank when I took this picture so you all can be surprised at the end of the year. On this page I added basil.

Now onto the monthly spreads. This spread was taken by @littleolivebujo. I really loved how simple and organized this monthly introduction was. I loved the idea of monthly goals and a place for bigger events and the such. On this page I doodled some thyme.

Now, you mostly likely know I am studying Korean if you have been reading my blog regularly. I ended up taking this study spread from @jeannestudies. On the right I am keeping track to random expenses that come up. I kept these simple because they are going to be very full of information soon enough. I added rosemary and chamomile to these spreads.

My TBR and pages read spread is the one I used last month, just migrated over. I figure if it works, why change it up? On the right is where I am going to take notes and record my monthly spread that I noted earlier. I left a lot of open room so I have a lot of room to reflect and revisit as the month goes on.

This month my weekly spreads are a bit different. I added a few trackers on the sides that include habit, weekly, hours sleep and weather. Unfortunately I pinned this a while ago on Pinterest, but the link is now broken. I don’t remember where it came from so if you know who did this please let me know! I want to give them credit. On this spread I added thyme and dill.

What theme are you using this month?

What do you have planned for May?

Sign Off 2020

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | New Bujo & November Set Up

bookishluna11 Comments

Recs

Hello and welcome to my new bullet journal! I am so excited to be sharing with you how I decided to see it up and the spreads I migrated over. It is really interesting how over time the spreads you need change, that is just the most wonderful thing about bullet journals, they change with you. Anyway, I don’t want to write a huge introduction because I have a ton of pictures to share!

This time around I decided to stick with an Archer and Olive A5 notebook. The main reason being the page quality and I really enjoy the fact that the pages are crispy white as well. I personally do not use an index so not having page numbers is not a big deal. What I need is good quality paper, good binding, a pen loop, and roughly enough pages to get me through 4-6 months. This note book has all of that for me, a nice bonus is the beautiful cover. I found a Tombow marker in the shade 837 that matched the cover pretty darn well and I am using that during the set up as well as November.

I am not a big number person, but I love to celebrate milestone. I had this page in my previous bullet journal and I updated it normally towards the end of the month. As you can see I already needed to update a few since creating this spread. I do have an instagram, but quite frankly instagram normally just stays the same and it is more for me than anything.

These spreads I feel like are going to be used and reference a lot over the next few weeks. I decided to put my buddy read picks and order for Jenna, Amy, Reg and myself because if I don’t write them down I never remember. It is also a fun memory. Underneath this I have decided to start to watch the Outlander series instead of just reading it. I decided to put a little progress tracker because I don’t watch a ton of TV so I tend to forget my progress in shows if they aren’t on netflix or prime since those services keep track for me. On the right I just redid my 2019 goals spread that was in my previous bujo.

I decided to also keep my grid spacing page as well as my period tracker. I did not add the 1/2 and 1/4 points because it was a lot of work that I never really references because my spreads were never broken up like that. Having the number of boxes across and down is more useful for me.

Next and one of my more important spreads is my TBR. I have a box on the left of each title which tracks whether I have started, read, or unhauled/DNFed a book. On the right of the book title there are four boxes with checkmarks. These are codes for audiobooks since all of these books are already owned via print or ebook. A means it is available on audible, S means it is available on Scribed, * means I own it, L means my library has it. This is all for reference so I can decide which books to listen to on my commute to and from work.

I have added a new Read 5, Buy 1 to this bujo, but I am putting this on hold until the new year because I tend to get books for the holidays and it would throw this off a bit. But, I love being prepared so I added it now.

Now we are on to November, I was one again influenced by Plant Based Bride over on youtube. She shared this printable on the left and I just loved the cozy feel and on the right I used more of her doodles to decorate a shelf above the monthly calendar.

Next I have my habit tracker, which is a layout I have been loving over the past few months. This month I decided to track sleeping 7 hours or more, meditation, reading, vitamins, tidying, and nature time. On the right I have a social media tracker to track when I am meant to post on my blog, but I will also mark when I upload to instagram. On the bottom you can see my blog post tracker. On the left is the date, PWS is from my previous bujo, which means pictures, write, schedule. Just so I can track my progress and stay on top of my posts. I really loved doing this last month so I am looking forward to using this again.

So this month I am going back to my old book tracker, I have realized I don’t really care how many pages a day I read, but more so how long it is taking me to read a book. So, if you have not seen this spread before. On the left I will use a color that represents a book and I will color in the blocks next to the days I read that particular book. You can see this filled out in my post called Bullet Journal | May 2019. On the right I used another one of Plant Based Bride print, I thought it was a nice reminder to do things that make you happy and feel good inside.

Next up is my TBR, which I talked about in my TBR post, TBR | November 2019. If you have not noticed already I decided to use the N from the first page of the month as a guide to decorate the titles of each page. I thought it would help tie everything together.

Those are my weekly spreads. I decided to try something new again. I was watching Plant Based Brides November set up and I thought it looked so functional and simple and for me that is the best when setting up my weeklies as of late so I can focus on the items on the page instead of the fluff.

Anyway, this is my new bujo and my November set up! I hope you enjoyed this little peak!

What theme are you using this month?

What do you track on your habit tracker?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Reading Challenges

Lets Talk | Classic of the Year 2019

bookishluna7 Comments

 LetsTalk12:17 So, since the year is coming close to an end I am starting to think about the things I want to accomplish in 2019, it feels so weird typing that. So this is one of the first of many posts that are going to be talking about the things I want to do in 2019 and I hope you enjoy. This will not be the only post about this specific book, so look forward to that!

So in 2019, I really wanted to read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy for a few reasons. The first being I read Anna Karenina in 2018 and I have been loving it more and more as time passes. The second I find Tolstoys writing so be beautiful. The last reason being is it on nearly every “100 Books to Read in a Life Time” lists. So this year I decided it was going to happen. Do this year I decided I was going to break up the book so I can read about a section every 3 weeks and finish in December. I am lucky enough to have friends who want to join me and you can see by the following tweet we are all excited about this year long endeavor.

I think the main reason why I am so exited about this endeavor is because I have made the book manageable by breaking up the book and spread it out throughout the year of 2019. This book is huge, that is one of the reasons it has taken my such a long time to get to it. I thought since I made this book manageable for me I would share the schedule I came up with with all of you.

War and Peace Document

What was the last classic you read?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Let's Talk

Lets Talk | Buddy Reading vs Book Club

bookishluna14 Comments

LetsTalk12:17Hello everyone, this month I wanted to discuss something I have heard/seen questions going around the book community on various platforms. This month I wanted to talk about both Buddy Reading and Book Clubs. But, before I dive into this new topic I wanted to talk about the outcome of our last discussion.

Previous Discussion: Lets Talk | Preordering Books

DividerLast month we talked about pre-ordering books. It seems from both of the poll questions that 72.7% of the individuals who voted have in the past pre-ordered books. While the second question, dealing with the idea of pre-ordering, 100% thought it was a good idea. I find it interesting that there is a 27.3% difference, while I do understand the reason for the difference. While it is a good idea to pre-order and support authors, it is not always practical and/or a possibility. Thanks again to those who voted!

8 yes, 3 no

11 yes

Divider

First I thought it would be important to define both of these terms that are often thrown around.

Definition of book club via merriam-webster

1: an organization that ships selected books to members usually on a regular schedule and often at discount prices
2: a group of people who meet regularly to discuss books they are reading

Definition of Buddy Read via Moderators of NBRC

A “Buddy Read” has a discussion leader and a reading date is set to start the book. A reading schedule is posted prior to the start date and discussion questions are posted each day regarding that section of the book. More information about these types of reads is below. An example is here, showing a reading schedule here.

I just want to also say that the Buddy reads that I have been part of have a reading schedule and the book is usually broken into 50 page increments. One individual picked the book and the person who chooses the book rotates so others have a chance to be a leader. Discussion days are set, but I have not always had discussion questions set prior sometimes they are set and other times the conversations are just organic. Divider

When looking at a bookclub the main thing that stands out in the definition is that an organization/entity chooses the books for the members, there is not a  discussion over the book that is picked and there is not a rotation of this power. For me I find that having someone always having control of picking the book leaves me to skip months or I end up loosing an interest because I have no equity in the bookclub or the outcome. While this can be a positive for some by getting them to try new books or different genres for me it is not. One example of this is Barns and Nobles new Book Club that was accounted last month. I only joined it because The Female Persuasion was already on my anticipated releases of April. If it has not been I would not have even thought about joining.

Another thing that stands out is the fact that is has a regulated schedule that sits usually at once a month. I really enjoy this format because I can read the book in a single day or take the entire month to read it. It is totally up to me. I can break it down by how much to read per week or just wing it.

Now, looking at buddy reads there are a few things that stand out to me. The first being Is that there is a reading schedule set. As I said earlier I do like how bookclubs give you more flexibility here, but to be honest I enjoy having a weekly goal. For me it allows me to be the mood-reader that I am by allowing me to read more than one book at a time. I can read by 50 pages earlier in the week and then explore other books the rest of the time. Also, chances are, depending on the size of the book, can take more than a single month to read.

Another thing that I like is that there is a leader who chooses the book, for me the person who chooses always changes. There is not a single entity who is in charge. That way, I as a reader, get to pick something I really want to read with others, but I also get to explore what others want to read. I have equity in the group and that give it value. For me this keeps me involved and excited about reading with a group.

Realistically I will never have to choose one over the other, but if I had to pick between only taking part in a bookclub or in buddy reads chances are I would choose buddy reads. For my reading style and my personality they work better.

I hope this post explained a little bit more about what these terms actually mean and is helpful in some way. If you have any questions or want to point out more positive and negatives of either of these please share in the comments, I would love to hear them. Also, there is once again a poll at the end of this post. I am curious to see what everyone thinks.

Divider

What do you think about buddy reads and book clubs?

Have you ever taken part in either of these?

SignOff12:17

Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads