Category Archives: Event

Love-a-thon Mini-Challenge #2: Mix & Match

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Hello lovely people and welcome to Love-a-thon 2017, hosted by these lovely ladies: Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books, Cee @ The Novel Hermit, Kristin @ Super Space Chick, and Mel @ The Daily Prophecy.

So this mini-challenge is all about combining your love of books with another hobby/passion/fandom/talent that you might have. We can do this through photos, artwork, videos, collages, whatever we’d like and t just have fun and be creative with it.

So, as I stated before, I love to draw. I’m doing my own 365 Days of Art Challenge where I’m going to draw something – anything – no matter how big or small, complex or simple, every day for the next 365 days. I started this back on February 5th, so I’m a couple of weeks into it now, and I’ve been keeping up with it pretty well.

I’ve done fanart before of characters, but I’m doing these pieces in a traditional fashion rather than digitally. So here are some of my favorite characters and how I view them in my mind (except one which is from a manga, so I kind of already know what he looks like). Can you guess who they are and what book they’re from?

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I’ve always found drawing to be a very relaxing activity from the time I was a child. Like reading, I’ve always loved to draw, and of course I improved greatly from the time I was a child, and I’m going to continue to improve the more I do draw. I find that drawing is a way to escape, it’s a way to really let the mind go and dream and be free from the rest of the world.

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Of course, that’s not to say that reading doesn’t have the same effect, but drawing is just something that really takes my mind away from the present and really allows me to be unique, to show myself what I can do, and to truly be me.

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I think that combining two of the things I love most – art and books – to be a very natural thing for me. Of course I have to rely on the descriptions that the authors provide, but I also love that because it allows for so much creative freedom. You can make them look how you envision them, which may or may not match what the author had in mind. And I think that that is so cool.

I hope you guys liked this and that you’ll be inspired to maybe pick up a pen or pencil and draw some of your favorite characters! Can’t wait to see you in the next post!

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

If you’re into drawing and art, what’s your favorite medium to work with? Do you prefer more traditional works, or digital ones? Who’s your favorite book character that you’d want to draw out yourself? Tell me all the things!

Love-a-thon Mini-Challenge #1: Mad Libs: Fairytales Edition

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Hello lovely people and welcome to Love-a-thon 2017, hosted by these lovely ladies: Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books, Cee @ The Novel Hermit, Kristin @ Super Space Chick, and Mel @ The Daily Prophecy.

The first mini-challenge we have here is the Mad Libs: Fairytales Edition! If you don’t know what Mad Libs is, are you living under a rock? Pretty much there’s a set of words with prompts, such as “location,” “adjective,” “verb,” etc, and you choose any random word that fits that prompt that comes to mind to fill in the blanks in the story afterward. It’s usually really hilarious, so let’s just right into this.

*Mad Libs I choose will be bolded and pink in the story to find them easily.

  1. LOCATION: Erilea
  2. CHARACTER: Dragon Knight
  3. TYPE OF STORE: Clothing
  4. BODY PART (plural): Feet
  5. ITEM: Necklace
  6. ROYALTY: Queen
  7. REPEAT ITEM FROM #5.: Necklace
  8. ACTIVE VERB (example: running): Skipping
  9. ANOTHER LOCATION: Cliffside by the ocean
  10. AN EMOTION: Perplexed
  11. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT: Xylophone
  12. PIECE OF FOOD: Pizza crust
  13. NUMBER: 42
  14. TYPE OF HOUSE: Bungalow
  15. VOICE ADJECTIVE: grating
  16. DESCRIBE A SOUND (ending with –ing): Muttering
  17. ROOM IN A HOUSE: Playroom
  18. OBJECTS: Lamps
  19. DESCRIBE AN OUTFIT: Delicate lace with a touch of Gothic garments
  20. INFINITIVE VERB, activity: to play
  21. REPEAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENT from #11: Xylophone
  22. A JOB: Bounty hunter

Okay, now that I have my random words, let’s read this glorious story!

Once upon a time, in a far away Erilea, there lived a smart Dragon Knight. She lived alone in a clothing store, where she had grown up with the deceased owner. She had beautiful feet, and she was known for her shiny red necklace, the only thing she had left of her parents.

Alas, the Queen of the country became jealous and wanted to own this necklace. So, she became a wanted person and had to flee into the forest to find a place to hide. After skipping around for hours, hungry and tired, she stumbled upon a cliffside by the ocean. An old lady appeared, offering her shelter from the bitter cold.  She looked at her with perplexity and said: “I will protect you, but I need your help first. Years ago I lost something precious and I want it back. You need to climb into the sky and get my xylophone back. Here is a magical pizza crust, throw it into the earth, sprinkle with water and it will sprout a beanstalk. You have 42 days to return before the stalk withers.”
She followed the instructions given to her, and lo and behold, a beanstalk grew and grew and grew all the way up to the clouds. After an exhausting climb, she saw a huge bungalow. She walked to the door and knocked. A grating voice said: ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum, who dares to come and enter my house?” She was not afraid and said: “My name is Jamie and I’ve come to collect an item.”
The door made a muttering sound when it opened and revealed a large playroom filled with golden lamps.  She stepped inside and walked towards the spiraling staircase, where a figure moved, cloaked in darkness.

“Who are you? Step into the light, so I can see your face.”
The beast growled angry. “Why did you come here? I just want to be left alone.” Still, she moved and stood in front of it. There were three horns on his head, and hair all over his face and his mouth was filled with large teeth. He wore delicate lace with a touch of Gothic garments.
“What happened to you?” She reached out to touch one of the horns, but the beast flinched. “Many years ago I was cursed by a witch. I have one year left to play so I can break the spell, but I’m not brave enough.”
“If you give me the xylophone, I will help you.”
In keeping her promise, the beast and her worked for a few hours and that afternoon, the beast transformed into an ordinary older guy. “I can’t wait to return to my job as a bounty hunter in the normal world. Can I come with you?” Together they climbed down the beanstalk, carrying the instrument for the old lady. The moment she saw the guy and her beloved instrument, she started to weep.
“My husband, you have returned!” They hugged and looked at Jamie.
“We have to tell you something,” the old lady said. “You are our child. We were separated after the curse, but now we are reunited!” From that day, the three of them lived together in the forest, happily ever after.

Aww, how sweet was that story? I think it was cute. Also, I want that magical pizza crust because that sounds amazing.

I hope to see you in the next mini-challenge post for Love-a-thon and thanks for stopping by! c:

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

What kinds of funny words did you have for the mad lib? Would you be willing to go get the instrument to help the old lady?

Love-a-thon 2017 – Get to Know Me

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Hello lovely people and welcome to Love-a-thon 2017, hosted by these lovely ladies: Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books, Cee @ The Novel Hermit, Kristin @ Super Space Chick, and Mel @ The Daily Prophecy. This is a two day weekend event that I also took part in this event last year and I’m SO excited to be doing it again this year! There’s so many awesome posts planned over the next couple days with some Twitter chats and blog hopping involved.

If you don’t know what Love-a-thon is, it’s a way to show love to all of the awesome people in the book community! So whether you have a blog, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube channel, it’s about spreading the love and sharing some positivity to those in this awesome community.

So without further ado, here’s the questionnaire for this first post of the event!

An Introduction to You and Your Blog

  1. What’s your name? Where in the world are you blogging from?
    • Hey, I’m Rayna and I’m blogging from Massachusetts in the United States!
  2. Tell us your history with reading. Were you always a reader? Were you a reluctant reader? Was there a book that convinced you to become a reader?
    • I’ve always been a reader, actually. Not when it came to books I was required to read in school, though, because I never found any of them to be interesting (except for one, which was A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb). I’d always want to get books, even if I never read them, because let’s be honest, my book hoarding tendencies started when I was a smol child. I think the book that really made me become a reader was the Twilight saga by Stephenine Meyer. I know it was a series that was kind of the pinnacle of reading for many people, but it really got me wanting to read more and more books. I didn’t really do so until 2014 when I joined the book community, though.
  3. How did you get involved in the online book community?
    • I had been watching a lot of Booktubers for months at the point that I joined. So I decided, “Hey, I can do this, too,” and I made my YouTube channel (which seems to have since been abandoned… I prefer writing than speaking. Maybe I’ll revamp it one day.). My first blog post was my review for the Divergent series. No introduction, no “this is what I want to do with this blog,” just me jumping straight into a book review. It’s cringey to think about it now, but I’m so glad I took the leap to join this awesome community.
  4. How did you choose your primary platform (blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc)? How did you come up with your blog name?
    • I’m so creative… I’m like, “Omg, how am I going to come up with a name?” And so I was thinking and thinking of clever names, but the only one that stuck in my mind was “Reader Rayna.” Look at that alliteration. #original
  5. What’s your favorite thing about the online book community?
    • Everyone’s very open and so willing to make friends. I think a lot of us feel isolated in our personal lives because it’s very hard to find like minded people – readers (active readers, mind you) – to talk about books and fandoms and squee over characters about. I love that about this community and that we strive to be better every day when it comes to topics and what we read and how we read it.
  6. What sort of posts can readers expect from you?
    • I do a little bit of everything, really. I do tags, reviews, discussions, wraps ups. I even include writing posts (because I’m a writer, too) as well as occasional posts about my hobbies other than reading.
  7. What book genres do you talk about most?
    • Have you heard of this epic genre called fantasy? Yeah, that’s my favorite genre to read. I love magic and I love anything that’s not the real world, because let’s be honest, this world is scary. Not that fantasy worlds aren’t scary… hell, more often than not they’re scarier. …you know what I mean.

Favorites

  1. Favorite food? Beverage?
    • Favorite food: mac and cheese foreverrrrrrrrr!
    • Favorite beverage: probably milk or apple juice.
  2. Favorite color?
    • Pink~ I like almost any shade, but my favorite is baby pink and a blush pink.
  3. Favorite things to do apart from reading?
    • Hey, didn’t I just mention my Hobby Corner posts? But to put it simply: play video games (OBSESSED with FFXV), drawing, writing, listening to music. I love to be creative, pretty much.
  4. Favorite tv shows?
    • YURI!!! on Ice, Haikyuu!!, Your Lie in April, Oremonogatari!
    • Non-anime related: Arrow, Flash, Penny Dreadful, Agents of SHIELD.
  5. Favorite movies?
    • The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Moana, Inside Out, all things Disney (pretty much), Harry Potter series, Pirates of the Caribbean series.
  6. Favorite musical artists?
    • HAMILTON. I know it’s not a musical artist, but WHERE ARE THE REST OF MY HAMILTRASH OUT THERE!?
    • Otherwise: Owl City, Lindsey Stirling, BTS, Girls’ Generation, Disney songs for daaaaaays.
  7. Favorite places to shop?
    • Barnes & Noble. Duh. I also like maurices. As for independent bookstore: Brookline Booksmith.

Book Talk

  1. Favorite childhood books?
    • Stellaluna, fairy tales (not Grimm, I’m not sure what kind it was, but it was based off of Grim brothers), science books (they were kid friendly kind). [No, Harry Potter is not on this list because I haven’t finished the series yet for the first time– I KNOW. I’m working on it.]
  2. Favorite books read in the last five years?
    • Um. Well. That list would be ginormous. Here’s a few: Illuminae, Fangirl, Throne of Glass series, ACOMAF, Starbound trilogy, Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, The Raven Boys saga, An Ember in the Ashes.
  3. Favorite genres?
    • FANTASY~ YA or otherwise. I also enjoy urban fantasy, historical fiction, romance, contemporary, science fiction.
  4. Underrated book, series or author you love?
    • I don’t know if it’s underrated, but the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa was my favorite series at the pinnacle of my faerie obsession stage in life. I haven’t finished the last book, The Iron Queen, but I need to reread the trilogy and see if I still love it.
  5. A book you want to see made into a film or tv show?
    • ^See above. Also, I’d love to see Fangirl be made into a film. It would be so cute!
  6. Book boyfriend/girlfriend? Book BFF? Book family?
    • Oooh, the fun questions are coming out! Okay, book boyfriends: Aeduan from Truthwitch and Kaden from The Remnant Chronicles. (How am I not thinking of more, I don’t know.) Book girlfriends: Helene from An Ember in the Ashes.
    • Book BFF: Karou and Zuzana, who are also BFFs in the books and I need them to be my BFFs IRL.
    • Book family: The Weasley’s because who wouldn’t want to be part of their family?
  7. Books you want to read in 2017?
    • All of them.
    • …seriously.

Alright, that’s it for this first post! I hope to see a lot of you in this super fun and awesome event and I can’t wait to go blog/channel/insta/twitter hopping! Have fun!

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

Are you excited for this event? What are you most looking forward to? Also, what’s your favorite independent bookstore? Have you ever been to one? Who’s your book boy/girlfriend? Tell me all the things!

Two Years of Blogging Celebration + Giveaway

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That’s right! My blog is officially two years old! I can’t believe it. I never thought that I’d become a blogger – a passionate blogger – let alone a book blogger. But I am so happy to be here sharing my thoughts, feelings, and passions with all of you.

When I started blogging two years ago, I was nervous. Excited, but nervous. Would people even look at my blog? Comment on my stuff? Interact with me? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t doing it for the “fame” in the beginning, because who doesn’t want their five minutes, you know? But pretty soon after I started I fell in love with it. Interacting with all of you – my peeps – is one of the joys that brings me back to my blog every day. I love seeing comments and commenting on other’s blogs (which I still need to work on, I know!), and then interacting on Twitter and Instagram… it’s so worth it!

I fell in love with books all over again because of blogging and book community. Not only is the book community the most welcoming community I’ve ever seen on the Internet, but there’s also so many passionate and diverse voices here that it sparked my love for reading all over again. Once people were excited over a book, so was I! It was fun to talk about and gush or gripe over books – and it still is!

When my first blogiversary came around, my numbers and content (and amount of books on my shelves) were much smaller than they are now, but I was still so grateful to have faithfully stuck with book blogging and having those connections with people and books and more.

Now, two years after I started blogging, I’m so excited to see how far I’ve come and where I can see myself going. I’ve had such a great time this past year and I have some of those milestones to share with you.

What Happened This Last Year

  • Between July last year and July this year I’ve read and reviewed 57 books, novellas, short stories, and audiobooks. That’s a lot for me and I am so amazed at how far I’ve come in that time!
  • I’ve had 43 discussions. Wow. I had a lot to say, apparently!
  • I went to my first author book signings in YEARS and got to meet my favorite author. Actually I went to three: Jodi Meadows and Erin Bowman, Sarah J. Maas, and Maggie Steifvater! All of the authors were so lovely and nice.
  • I participated in a lot more events and readathons, like Love-a-thon, Make Me Read, and more.
  • I even started the ToGReadalong with some bookish friends!
  • I’ve met more awesome bookish people through Twitter chats, which I am very thankful for. Such Twitter chats have been #BBTC and #RQWN.

What I’m Looking Forward To

  • Reading more books! I feel like I never have enough time in my day to read as much as I want anymore, but I hope to just continue reading and having fun doing it.
  • I’m obviously going to keep posting more on my blog, but I want to do some new and different things in the next year. I’m going to look into different things so they’ll be a surprise when/if they happen!
  • I’ve been neglecting my YouTube channel, and I don’t know if I’ll continue to make videos or not, so I’m going to be debating on an upload schedule and trying to stick to it.
  • Go to more book signings and events! I’m going to make it my mission to go to some sort of book convention whether it be this year or next year, but I really want to go and meet so many people!

The Giveaway

I’m giving away a $25USD gift card to Society6! You’ll be able to choose whatever design and item you want up to $25 (any additional fees are up to you to pay). I’ll be sending the gift to you via email, so be sure to keep a lookout! I’ll obviously email the winner beforehand so that they’re aware of it and all of that. Yes, the giveaway is international because they do have worldwide shipping! Just make sure they ship to your country, obviously.

Click here for the giveaway!

A Big Thank You

I feel like this year is going to get better, just like how I thought last year that it would get better – and it has! I’m so excited to be part of such an awesome community and I just want to thank you all for being part of this journey with me. You’re all lovely and beautiful and my peeps (yes, the fluffy marshmallow chicks). Thank you all for sticking around and I hope to have many more conversations with you all and continue to grow and be passionate and have more fun than before.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

What has been YOUR favorite post that YOU’VE done on your blog and why? Share with me your links so I can check them out and visit your blogs! It’s all about connection here and I want to connect more with you all, so show me your favorite/best/most creative post/video/Instagram photo that you’ve got!

Armchair BEA 2016 Wrap Up & Giveaway Winner

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Well friends, Armchair BEA has come to a close along with Book Expo America and BookCon. So sad, but it was just as fun as last year. I had a good time at the Twitter parties, discussing bookish topics, and overall seeing a small chunk of the community come together for something like this.

I definitely had fun talking about the fictional worlds I’d want to survive in and the ones I’d want to live in. Reality kind of sucks sometimes, so it’s always fun to imagine living in a different world – though I’m sure that, too, would suck after a while if there was a lot of chaos going on there. But I’d cope somehow!

I also enjoy talking about the importance of diversity in books and how there’s just not enough of it out there. Yes, some strides are being made – which is always a plus – but it’s not enough and I think the publishing industry needs to grow and expand and understand that we, as readers, as people, need it.

And then talking about other forms of reading, such as manga! I think that it’s a fun medium to read from and that it really can capture the emotions and the heart of a story.

And now the giveaway winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated! I’ll be sure to have another giveaway in a couple of months, but for now, here is the winner:

Congratulations to…

MONICA @ MONICA FASTENAU

I will send you an email regarding your win and choice of book from The Book Depository.

Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦

Did you participate in Armchair BEA? What were your favorite parts? Did you attend BEA or BookCon? Tell me all the things!