Love-A-Thon 2017 | On The Road (Trip!)

Let’s go on a road trip! Pick 3-4 people—fictional characters, readers/bloggers, authors—you’d love to take on this road trip; a place you’re headed towards like Disneyland, Grand Canyon, Martha’s Vineyard, etc; and what you’ll be doing on this road trip, like topics of discussion, who’s driving, who’s in charge of the road trip music, etc. Link up at The Novel Hermit.

I would love to hang out with Nina (Six of Crows), Sybella (Grave Mercy), Hermione (Harry Potter) and Lila (A Darker Shade of Magic), but it is hard to come up with a destination, since we don't have anything in common as a group. The best I can think of to make sure everyone is having a good time:

1. The first thing we do is go to the bookstore and hang out there. Lila is probably driving although she has no license, because she is easy like that. Sybella can look up books about fighting, Lila can read up on managing your own boat, Nina can drool over all the cook books and I can walk around with Hermione in the fantasy section.
 
2. Then we go and pick up some food, especially for Nina who loves to eat. We definitely need to bring a lot of chocolate, marshmallows and chocolate chip cookies.
 
3. Our hang-out location is probably some castle in a warm country. Sybella and Lila can practice fighting, because there is enough room and there are probably different weapons hanging on the wall as decoration. They can show us some ways to defend ourselves. Afterwards they can explore the castle, while Nina, Hermione and I rest next to the fire place with a book - and of course there will be guy talk.

Love-A-Thon 2017 | Fancy Yourself a Poet?

One of the most popular Love-a-Thon challenges is returning this year! All you have to do is create book spine poetry. You can either take a photo of the books, type out the titles in a post, read them out loud for a video or even get creative and collage it. Get as creative as possible! Link up at Alexa Loves Books.

Poem title: WHEN THE MOON WAS OURS.

FIND ME 

THE CURE FOR DREAMING.

For I am

RUINED

in the

LAIR OF DREAMS.

FEED

THE FORGETTING

of

A WORLD WITHOUT YOU.

There is

A GATHERING OF SHADOWS.

AND I DARKEN.

When the Moon was Ours – Anna-Marie McLemore. 
Find me – Romily Bernard.
The Cure for Dreaming – Cat Winters.
Ruined – Amy Tintera.
Lair of Dreams – Libba Bray.
Feed – MIra Grant.
The Forgetting – Sharon Cameron.
A World Without You – Beth Revis.
A Gathering of Shadows – V.E. Schwab.
And I Darken – Kiersten White.

I suck at this, but I still wanted to participate and try my hand at doing something that sounds enough like poetry. So, here it is.

Love-A-Thon 2017 | Mix and Match.

We all love books, but there are other things we’re passionate about too! All you’ve got to do is mash-up a non-bookish hobby/passion/talent/fandom with your bookish life. Do it through photos, collages, or videos. Get as creative as you’d like to! Link-up at Super Space Chick and take a look at all the other participants.

Bulletjournal and reading. I'm already writing a blog post about this topic, but I couldn't make this post without mentioning my bulletjournal. This is something I discovered in July last year and it has been one of the best things ever. It makes me feel peaceful, because I have a mind that tends to overthink. My anxiety is less now that I have a place where I can write down anything that might bother me. It's practically a diary, to-do-list and wish list in a fancy way. If you want a bit more information you can check out my post about my step into the world of bulletjournaling.

Love-A-Thon 2017 | Mad Lib fairytale edition.

Welcome to my first challenge post! Fill out this Mad Libs to create your very own fairytale! I've come up with a story that is a mix of different fairytales and I can't wait to see how yours turns out.

If you’ve never done Mad Libs before, all you have to do is choose a word that fits the provided prompts below. Once that’s done, you’ll fill in the blanks of the fairytale provided as well and you’ll have your very own story!

Love-A-Thon 2017 | Questionnaire.

I am proud to present the first post of the 2017 Love-a-Thon! It's been a lot of fun to work together with Alexa, Cee and Kristin to make this another successful event. This is the time to show us your answers to the questions and to hop around other bloggers to show them some love!

An Introduction to You and Your Blog.

1. What’s your name? Where in the world are you blogging from?
   My name is Melanie, but most people call me Mel. I'm from The Netherlands, a really cold country, but it does have its perks.
   
   
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. Ever since I was little I forced people to read books to me, until I was old enough to 'read' them myself. I also used my doll carriage to walk around with all my books, because I didn't like dolls.
   
   
3. How did you get involved in the online book community?
   I stumbled upon Goodreads and found this whole new world filled with other booklovers!
   
   
4. How did you choose your primary platform (blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc)? How did you come up with your blog name?
   I started to follow readers on Goodreads with similar taste and soon found out they used Blogspot for their blogs. I liked the fact that the interface seemed to easy and that it was free. My name comes from Harry Potter ( 'The Daily Prophet' ) and it was a very random idea that popped up in my head. I still love it. That happened in February 2012, so I've been around for some time now.
   
   
5. What’s your favorite thing about the online book community?
   The fact that I can discuss, rave, fangirl, cry and laugh together with other people who get me.
   
   
6. What sort of posts can readers expect from you?
   A mix of different type of posts. Mostly reviews. Sometimes I post a discussion, something about movies/TV shows and lately I've been really into bulletjournaling. It has been fun to explore this new hobby and to talk about it on my blog. I also talk a lot about fairytales, retellings and Disney whenever I get the chance.
   
   
7. What book genres do you talk about most?
   Fantasy and fairytales, my favorite genres.

Love-A-Thon 2017 | Sweethearts Candy Messages.

- You’ve received a box of Sweethearts candy, and you’re asked to share the candy with a person or couple – fictional or real. Tell us who you’d give these messages to. Link up at The Novel Hermit.

● LOVE WINS: A couple you didn’t think would get together, but against all odds, they did.
This could be a spoiler, but let me just say that I'm really happy with all the ships that (finally) sailed in Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.

● I DO: A character you’d marry.
I know that a lot of people dislike him and I still don't get it, because I would marry Chaol from the Throne of Glass series in a heartbeat.

● DREAM BIG: A character whose dreams you want to come true.
Blue from The Raven Cycle (Maggie Stiefvater)

● CRAZY 4 U: A character you’re crazy about.
Lila from A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab

● TRUE LOVE: Your ultimate OTP.
Robin LaFevers – Dark Triumph. If you've met Sybella and Beast, you know what I am talking about.

● TE AMO: A language you’d want to be wooed in.
I think Spanish/Italian, such passionate languages.

● BFF: A character you want to be your best friend.
I'm not going with the most obvious character (Hermione), so I'm going with Sorcha from Daughter of the Forest (Juliet Marillier)

● WINK WINK: A character you’d want to wink at you.
I wouldn't object to a nice wink from Hector (The Girl of Fire and Thorns)

● SWEET TALK: A character who knows how to sweet talk/flirt.
There are two characters that pop up in my head immediately.
Sturmhond from the Grisha trilogy (Leigh Bardugo) and Thorne from the Lunar Chronicles (Marissa Meyer). Boy, do they know how to use their words.

● BEST DAY: A moment from a book you wish happened to you or your IRL best day.
Getting that library from Beauty and the Beast, haha.

● OOH LA LA: A character you want to slow dance with.
Duval, because I think he has some great moves (Grave Mercy – Robin LaFevers)

● LOVE YOU: The character that gets your undying love.
Snape. I don't care how everyone feels about him [and Sybella from Dark Triumph] Always have, always will.