‘Wrapped in real family history and set amongst the natural beauty of the Irish countryside, Roots is a classic romantic-comedy adventure and a page-turning account of a young woman finding herself. On a journey to the old world ― she discovered a whole new world. After a messy year of heartbreak and setbacks, Tara sets off to Ireland in search of clues to her family’s ancestry, but what she found wasn’t at all what she expected. Some of it has to do with the lack of records, but a lot has to do with John, the charming cartoonist she met on Twitter.’
I stumbled upon this book when scrolling through Prime Reads on Amazon. Graphic novels are one of my favourite things to read and this one seemed pretty simple and cute so I decided to give it a go.
I really do have a love-hate relationship with reading. I spent most of 2019 and 2020 in a huge reading slump that made me think I would never enjoy reading again. Luckily, one day at the start of December 2020, I felt in the mood to read a little bit before going to sleep one night.
I’m so grateful that my past self decided to try reading again. I managed to finish that book I had started by reading a little bit each night before going to sleep. I’m now reading my way through a second book and I am loving it.
Since I’m feeling the reading love these days, I figured I should make a little list of books that I want to read during 2021.
I’m pretty sure everyone knows Roald Dahl at this point. You have probably even come across some of his work whether it was by reading his books or just walking past them in the book shops. I’m pretty sure he is most famous for writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The BFG, as well as other short stories and children’s books.
He definitely did leave us with some grate tales from his imagination that helped us fuel our own, but he also taught us some very important lessons about life through his work.
I consider myself to be a part-time bullet journal user. Back in 2016, I was a hardcore bullet journal enthusiast. Now that it’s 2020, my life is getting busier and I don’t have time to make every page look beautiful and Instagram-worthy. The main thing that stopped me from using my bullet journal was that I’m not super artistic. My drawings and doodles tend to be a little bit all over the place which made me worried that I wasn’t ‘good enough’ to be part of the BuJo Community.
Anyway, now I have started to realise that each journal owner is unique. We don’t have to do things that way that all these professional planners do it. So, my mission from now on is to start using my bullet journal the way that I want to.
After writing my post about my life lessons, I realised that even though I have learnt a few life lessons throughout my life, there’s still more that I can improve on to make myself the best version of me that I can be.
I think it’s time that I start off a journey of becoming the best version of myself. I’m going to start by making lists of traits, habits and general things that I aspire to be. I thought what better place to share these lists than right here on my blog. By putting my thoughts into writing, it will be like taking them out of my very chaotic mind and it might even help to make me feel even more accountable. Hopefully sharing my goals and aspirations with you all will encourage me to do what I need to do to get to the places that I want to be.
Productivity:
I want to write more blog posts in advance so that when bloggers block hits, I have something to share with you all.
I want to make sure I keep my home, desk area and living spaces clean.
I want to stop procrastinating and get things done so I have time to relax when I need to in the evenings.
I want to stick to one journal system and actually use the journal to organise my days.
I want to start managing my monthly budgets better and start saving money.
Physical Health:
I want to lose five stone (70lbs) before my 24th birthday (November 2020).
I want to drink more water instead of lemonade and other fizzy drinks.
I want to stop eating cake as much.
I want to try to follow exercises from YouTube.
I want to make sure that I keep on top of my personal hygiene.
Mental health:
I want to try looking at situations more positively instead of worrying too much.
I want to show more gratitude to the people who are in my life.
I want to cut out the toxic people in my life and make friends to replace them.
I want to practise forgiveness for others to protect my own sanity.
I want to incorporate daily meditation into my life.
I want to set boundaries that will protect my own wellbeing.
Hobbies:
I want to start practising my drawing skills and painting more.
I want to actually learn to play my guitar instead of looking at it just sat in the corner.
I want to travel more and experience as many cultures as I can.
I want to rekindle my love for reading.
I want to start taking more photographs to capture precious life moments.
I’m hoping that now I have shared these goals with you, I’ll be able to keep up with this. It’s definitely going to be a hard journey and nothing will be accomplished overnight but it will be an interesting journey. I will probably focus on a small task per week or even longer so that I can create new habits and keep my thoughts organised.
If you lovely readers are also on a journey of self improvement, what’s on your list of things to improve on?
This is something that I have wanted to talk about on my blog for a little while now. I recently discovered Wicca and witchcraft and I’m so happy that I discovered it.
I am a complete beginner in all of this and I recently learnt that it’s actually a huge thing! I was never a spiritual person until my Nana died when I was younger. I wanted to find a way to reach out to her and I thought that Wicca and Witchcraft was a way for me to do that.
While reading about Wiccan Witches, I learnt that it is super interesting and fascinating so I was drawn to it straight away.
I have always loved crystals and I collected them when I was younger. I would read about what crystals would mean and the relevance that they would have on your life. Because of that, I knew that Wicca and Witchcraft would be perfect for me.
I didn’t know that crystals were related to witchcraft at first but I was young and naive so how would I have known?!
So, what my point is, is that I’m learning more about Wicca and Witchcraft so I thought that I would share my journey with you lovely lot here on my blog.
I love Q&As as they are a great way to find out more about people. So, I asked on Twitter for people to send me some questions and they lovely Twitter people did.
Aside from your phone/laptop, what’s one object you couldn’t live without and why? – What Abigail Says
I would say my laptop but since I can’t say that, I’m going to do with my favourite teddy called Rosy. I have had her since I was very young and she is my most favourite possession. I also have another teddy bear called Honey who is also super precious so really, I can’t live without either of them.
Rosy (left) and Honey (right)
Who is your favourite book character(s) & why? – Raiin Monkey
Okay… so… I thought about this for a while and I think that my favourite character is Eleanor from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. She is quirky and she isn’t afraid to be different. A few other characters that I love are:
Cath from Fangirl.
Callum from Noughts and Crosses.
Lara Jean from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.
What’s your ultimate favourite Disney film and why?! – Coffee & Corfu
Oh my gosh, this is such a difficult question to answer! After a lot of thought, I think I’m going to have to go with Monsters Inc. It’s the film that I remember most from my childhood and probably the film that made me love Disney most of all. I also love Mulan and anything with Chip n Dale in.
I do play video games. Not too long ago, I bought a Nintendo Switch so I have been playing some Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee but my all time favourite game is Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer for the Nintendo 3DS. I’m kind of a Nintendo Nerd!
So… I started a booktube channel about one year ago. I filmed the booktube newbie tag and it got over 100 views which was a huge shock to me. I figured that people wanted to see more bookish content from me so I went with it. I started watching booktubers and seeing what tag videos were out there.
Over time, I got bored of talking about books all the time. So, I started vlogging. I pretty much daily vlogged for a while but my vlogs got boring as my depression got worse and I didn’t have the motivation to do anything.
When a bit of my motivation came back, I got into fitness. So of course, I started vlogging again and talking about fitness.
Now, I film fitness related videos at least once a month and it’s great for me because it’s not too much pressure and it’s also really fun.
What’s a song that you can’t help but jam out/sing along to when it comes on?! – Inspired By Tor
I always tell people that I don’t like Motionless In White but whenever Simon plays one of there songs, I catch myself headbanging and singing/screaming along.
We actually met on Tinder. I had only just downloaded the app and didn’t take it too seriously but Simon and I got talking and we ended up really enjoying chatting to each other. Over time, we decided to meet up and it all went from there…
If you enjoyed the Q&A feel free to leave a question in the comments for my next Q&A or I will answer in the comment section..
I’ve wanted to collaborate with another blogger for the longest time. I had just never gotten around to it. But today is the day, the day that I’m collaborating with a fellow blogger.
Today’s post is a collaboration with the very lovely Shannon from The Mum Who Read, so don’t forget to check out her blog too!
We were tossing some ideas back and forth until we eventually decided to write about books and Valentine’s Day. We both love books and romance so it’s the perfect topic.
So, if you’re looking for some romantic, love stories to read, keep on reading..!
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
If you haven’t read this book yet then I just do not know what you’re doing with yourself.
Everything, Everything follows the story of a girl with a disease which means that she can not leave the house without getting ill. When a cute boy moves in next door, she falls in love and it follows their story.
This was a super cute love story with amazing illustrations that made it easy to read. I also thought this book did a fantastic job at balancing the lightheartedness with the more serious stuff.
Noughts And Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Ah, one of my all time favourite books by one of my all time favourite authors.
This book is all about racism and discrimination. Sephy is a cross and Callum is a nought. Noughts and crosses just don’t mix. But can Callum and Sephy find a way to be together?
This book was very hyped when I first read it and now I completely understand why!
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
This book is my favourite by Rainbow Rowell even though I love all of her work. Maybe I’m slightly bias as I share a first name with the main character but ya know.?!
Eleanor & Park follows two characters who have completely different backgrounds. Eleanor is the new girl in town and Park is a quiet, cool kid (in Eleanor’s eyes anyway). Over time, they begin to fall in love.
The book has very mixed reviews but for me, it’s perfect. I loved the characters and I loved their little love story.
What books do you plan on reading this Valentine’s Day?
