Talk Bujo to Me | July '17 & haul.

If you are new to bulletjournaling: it is basically a wish list, to-do list and journal – and what I like to do is decorate it with doodles, handlettering, stamps and washi-tape. I have two informative posts about my step into this bujo-world and setting up collections.


Every month I like to pick a theme or a theme color, so for July I went with blue and ocean/beach details. I found two sets of doodles that inspired me: this set on Shutterstock and these doodles from Jamtoons. This was one of the first times I tried to use watercolours in my bulletjournal and I'm impressed with the paper; it holds the water really well! I think I will definitely continue to use watercolours in my spreads, because it is an easy way to add a pop of colour.

This was the first month that I participated in the new Instagram challenge by Boho Berry, simply called #bohoberrychallenge. Every month has its own theme and this time it was all about personal development/growth. I loved making all the spreads and to truly think about topics like: what I need more and less off or what I truly love about my life. Sometimes these are good things to think about. It always makes me realize how happy I am with the life I have and how far I have come as a person.

There are still aspects of my life that I need to work on, like dealing with my negative self-talk and how I deal with some unrealistic fears that still hold me back, but this challenge also showed me all the things I CAN celebrate about myself. Also tell me: what is your greatest talent? This is always one of the hardest questions, because I have a feeling I haven't discovered mine yet? So in the end I decided to go with reading multiple books at the same time, without losing track of the characters/plot.

I have a little haul to show you this month. The first thing I got, after going back and forth between buying or leaving, I got this beautiful handmade glass dip pen from J. Herbin. I've practiced a little in my learning bulletjournal with some black ink from Pelikan 4001 and I really like it! It takes some practice, but the result is pretty and I definitely want to get some more colours ink.

And I got three new notebooks. Two of my beloved notebooks from Leuchtturm1917 for my collection. I got the Anthracite one and Red, which will be my bulletjournal for 2018. I've already started my preparations by copying spreads that I will need, like my book wish list of upcoming publications, my goals and Ultimate TV show tracker. I will show you all my spreads in one of my next bulletjournal updates.

I couldn't resist this lilac coloured notebook from Rhodia. This is one of their new lines. I already owned their dotted Notepad to practice handwriting, so I decided to branch out and try their dotted Goalbook. I have to say I'm not impressed.. The quality of the cover is disappointing. It is made of a soft material, so you can see every line and scratch the moment you touch it. The paper has darker dots and seems flimsier – I don't think it will react to water colours as well as the Leuchtturm paper. Shame! They have a different range of colours, so I hoped I could switch between them, but I will stick with my good old Leuchtturm notebooks.

Review | Christina Henry – Alice.

Title: Alice.
Author: Christina Henry.
Pages: 325.
Publication: Published June 28th 2016 by Titan Books Ltd

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo with the screams of the poor souls inside.In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blonde, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn't remember why she's in such a terrible place-just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood...Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

RATING:

Warning: this book contains rape and a lot of violence. It is dark and graphic. I will mention these aspects in my review. I would classify this book as a mixture of horror and retelling.

Alice is trapped in an asylum after she mysterious disappeared and returned – covered in blood with no memories of what happened. She becomes friends with the guy in the next cell called Hatcher. They both manage to escape when the asylum burns down and they have an important mission: find the sword to kill the Jabberwocky.

Alice has no idea what is going on, but she is thrown into dangerous situations alongside Hatcher, who believes she is the one. They meet several characters who are extremely dark and twisted, like the Caterpillar who mutilates girls in his brothel to make them exclusive and the Walrus who eats girls while he rapes them.

This aspect gave me mixed feelings. I've always found Alice to be a pretty messed-up fairytale and this book really plays in on that feeling. It twists it in an even darker version that portrays how sick this 'Wonderland' can be. On the other hand, it is gruesome and quite graphic at times, which made it intense and not exactly enjoyable. This makes it hard to say I liked the book; I did, but not in the way you say you like a contemporary book where everything is fluffy and happy.

The fight against the Rabbit and the Jabberwocky was a bit of a let down. Alice and Hatcher have to make their way through deaths and situations that are harder, so I expected more of it. It felt like they got away easy there, like the author had used up everything in the way leading up to the battle.

When it comes to Alice and Hatcher and their sort-of-romance.. Alice and Hatcher are both unpredictable and highly flawed characters. Alice is a tough girl with a broken mind and Hatcher is unstable. It makes them different from many books I've read so far. I can't say I have fallen in love with either of them, but they do fascinate me. It was nice to see how they support each other and drag each other through the hardship, but I couldn't get on board of their growing feelings. I'm curious about the sequel and how this romance is going to play out.

"If you let grief in, it might consume you."

Reading Challenge | The Reading Quest.

The quest will take place between Sunday 13th August to Sunday 10th September, 2017. This fabulous reading challenge is hosted by Read At Midnight.

There are four different characters you can pick from. I'm going with Bard for my first quest!

BARD: While the bards may not engage in direct combat, they make up for it with their intimate knowledge of songs and stories. They will travel through the Fifth Down path on the quest board, reading famed tales and singing lost songs.

The stats you start with: Level 1. EXP: 10. HP: 10.

+EXP: each finished book +10.
Book by marginalised author: +20.
Finish quest: +50.
Every additional quest: +30.

+Level: every 50 EXP.

+HP: every 10 pages +1.
Tweeting #TheReadingQuest +1. Max +20.
Photos #TheReadingQuest +1. Max +20.

Books I read:

A book that has a TV/movie adaptation: Neil Gaiman - American Gods.
A Fairytale Retelling: RaShelle Workman - A Beauty so Beastly.
A book cover with striking typography: V.E Schwab - A Gathering of Shadows.
A book translated from another language: Cornelia Funke - Inkheart.
A banned book: 

Potions, book by 2+ authors: Anthology; Because You Love to Hate Me.
Time Warp, book set in past or future:
Expansion, companion novel or short story:
Multiplayer, buddy read a book:
Grind, a book with 500+ pages: V.E Schwab - A Conjuring of Light.
Respawn, read a previous DNF:
Animal companion, reference to animal in title:
Mini game, graphic novel, novella or poem collection:
Open world, read whatever you want: Susan Dennard - Truthwitch.

EXP: 60.
LEVEL: 2.
HP: 224.

Fairytale News | A new beginning.

Hello hello!

It has been while since I really sat down to write a blog post for my blog. I've been typing down many reviews, which I posted mainly on Goodreads, but my passion for blogging was gone for a long time. I talked about feeling uninspired in March and how a lot of it had to do with feeling disconnected from the community. This feeling is starting to get better. I have taken a step back from Twitter, but I have started to spend more time visiting other blogs and reading their posts.

I decided to spice things up by getting a new design, which was also necessarily after the shut down of Photobucket. I don't know if you've noticed it, but for a couple of days my blog design had notifications that 'this image is no longer available.' I still feel a lot of love for my old design and how it was completely me, but sometimes change is a good thing too.

I bought my design on Etsy, from the webshop BloggerTemplate. It is such an affordable design that I can customize to my own taste. I'm still playing around with all the features, but for now I have settled down on this look and I love it! It is simple and I could use one of my favorite colors, so I'm a happy blogger. I'm currently working on making new headers - this here is one of them! All the others you currently see are place holders until I have designed something better.

I have to admit that the excitement I felt in the beginning, around the time I started my blog, still hasn't returned completely, but I feel motivated again. I have a few ideas for blog posts, so perhaps my inspiration is slowly returning.

I can't promise that I will post more regularly like I used to, but I think I might be able to post more. We will see! But for now, I at least feel the need to sit down to write a post every now and then.

Audio book Adventures | Two short stories.

Also: I'm not sponsored by Storytel. They don't even know who I am. Note that this is a Dutch website, another version of Audible. It is basically Netflix for audiobooks, because you pay 9,99 euro per month and can listen to as many audiobooks as you want.

I have listened to three books so far and I'm currently in the middle of one (Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, narrated by Dan Stevens) I love the fact that Storytel allows me to go from audiobook to audiobook, because I'm quite picky when it comes to the narrator. I have found out that I enjoy listening to males more than females, so that is where I will focus on right now.

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs. Read by Simon Callow. Listen on Storytel.
This audiobook was fabulous! This book has different stories set in the world of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. There is a princess with a fork-tongue, there are friendly cannibals and a boy who turned into a locust. Each story had something magical and strange about it and I loved them all. The narrator did a fabulous job of using different voices, which made the stories come alive. Highly recommended.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaimain. Read by Neil Gaiman. Listen on Storytel.
There is something special about authors who narrate their own book and Gaiman has a pleasant voice to listen to. This is a short, middle grade story about a father who spins a tale around the fact he returned late from the store to get some milk. This book is really entertaining and I think young children will love the adventures!

Talk Bujo to Me | What I use for bulletjournaling.

If you are new to bulletjournaling: it is basically a wish list, to-do list and journal – and what I like to do is decorate it with doodles, handlettering, stamps and washi-tape. I have two informative posts about my step into this bujo-world and setting up collections.

Today I want to talk about all the materials I use for my bulletjournal. Almost everything I get is bought on a Dutch website called Penstore. I am not sponsored, but simply enjoy using this website. It is easy to navigate, with different sections, and they provide fast shipping. For my Dutch followers: if you want there are also Notitieboekplaza, de Inktpot, Writersplaza, de Kwast and Liefde voor Papier.

You don't have to use anything that I mention in this post. Bulletjournaling is all about what works for YOU. So if you use a regular 1 dollar notebook and only a pencil, that is fine too! I just want to show you all the materials that work for me and it might give you some inspiration.