Lucy's Media Challenge: Beat the Anxiety Over Watching New Things Update 1
Reading & Stuff Update 1
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Hello, I have decided to start doing daily or almost daily updates about my reading and other stuff as I used to love making vlogs but I'm currently not well enough to make them any more. So if you'd like to see the books I've read so far this year, please check out my Goodreads.
There's a lot of stuff I can't do right now so one of my main focuses is reading! I love reading so much. It's not always easy with my mental health but thankfully I have managed to get into the habit of reading more which I am so grateful for.
My loose goal is to try to read 100 pages a day, whether that be across one read or more than one. I say loose because sometimes I get chronic migraines which can last for many days and it also depends on my fatigue and pain levels etc. But I am going to try my best to read at least a bit almost every day if I can.
So at the moment I have a few books on the go (I have already done some reading today but never mind):
The Gift of Dark Hollow- this is the sequel to The Legend of Podkin One-Ear which I read this year and absolutely loved. I am currently on page 34. Total- 304 pages.
The Book of Stolen Dreams- I think I started this in December but didn't get very far. I am now on page 44. Total- 380 pages.
The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System- This is one of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's books which have started to be translated. The cover is beautiful and glossy. I am really enjoying this even though I don't understand everything and I am frequently confused! I am on page 54. Total- 291 pages.
I am also reading the Rainbow Magic fairy books. I'm not sure how many I read as a child but I remember loving Ruby the Rainbow Fairy, the first book. I am now up to Georgia the Guinea Pig Fairy so I will be reading these alongside other books. I am trying to read them in order but some series are harder to find than others! (There are so many series within the main series).
I also started Aru Shah and the Song of Death which is the second book, the first being Aru Shah and the End of Time which I finally read last year and loved. This is kind of on hold for now (I was enjoying it, just ended up picking up other books) but I will be going back to it.
So far today I have read some of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System and The Book of Stolen Dreams. The latter of which is quite gloomy at the moment but I am going to plough through (my mental health was not feeling great).
As for other updates, I wrote a blog post about writing a gratitude/positivity journal that I am really proud of. We also got our second Ko-Fi member yesterday!! Please do check out my members at the end of each blog post, they are amazing.
I will update you in my next post, probably once I have read a bit more. My updates will be shorter than this but as the origin post, this ended up being longer. Please let me know what you're reading in the comments!
Why You Should Start a Gratitude/Positivity Journal & How I Do Mine
Indie Showcase #6 Poetry Books
The collection begins with her first published poem, printed in an anthology of love poems at the age of 17, and rounds off with more recent musings about the joys of cheese.
Between lighter reads, Sam Rose navigates early adulthood through the lens of cancer survivorship, with much of the poetry and prose featured tackling themes around illness and trauma, as well as nature.
An offering of hope and compassion for cancer
like they’re the ones in my stomach,
remembering with each stroke
an easier existence."
Empowerthy is a collection of poems about being a cancer survivor and living with Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition which makes people more likely to develop certain cancers in their lifetime.
The poems are written to empower and empathise with readers – whether you are a cancer survivor, previvor, or simply a survivor of this world so far.
Book Spotlight: Racing Devil: A 'Ride or Die' Romance of an F1 Driver by P.J. Scarlet
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Author: P.J. Scarlet
Genre: Romance, Sports Romance
Book description
After a racing accident, Myles Carlton, the famous Formula 1 driver struggles to accept that his face has become disfigured, and there is no way to fix it.Everybody keeps saying that it’s a curse. He has been insulting, selfish, and irritable. He lacks sportsmanship and regularly breaks women's hearts.
But then he meets Nicky who checks every box for him, and most importantly, she never acts like she was repulsed by his face. The playboy driver decides to go on a mission to win her heart.
Nicky's life has been going well. She was a management expert, and even better at controlling her emotions, until she has to work as Myles’ manager.
He makes her feel flustered, lightheaded, and she is about to lose control.
Falling in love with a dangerous man was the last thing in the world that Nicky wants to risk her heart with, resisting his charms and his burning desires for her has also proven to be a very difficult task.
Will her love be able to help this hunter beast break his curse as well?
Author bio
P.J. Scarlet is the pen name of a Thai female author who has published over ten books in the Thai language. She is also an award-winning author in the country. She is a hedonist who lives with anxiety. She loves listening to music and reading about people. She believes in the power of passion, dream, and determination, and she sets out to live her life accordingly. P.J. Scarlet has a rare disease. Writing fulfils both her life and her heart. Follow P.J. Scarlet on Twitter @PJScarlet_novel or write her at PJScarlet.author@gmail.com.
Book Spotlight: Dig Deep, Stand Tall: How to Connect with Your Heart, Take the Limits Off of Life, and Finally Reach Your Dreams by Adrian Hayward
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Author: Adrian Hayward
Genre: Self help / Personal development
Available on: Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com - Book Depository - Kobo - Barnes & Noble
(Currently only 99p/99 cents on Kindle)
Book description
You’re tired of things in your life not working out for you.
You’ve given everything but nothing seems to stick.
You wonder, “Why can’t I make things happen? I’m trying so hard.”
And that’s why you’re searching for books on how to be successful.
Well, you’ve found the one that can help.
I have spent the last 20+ years learning how to turn dreams into reality while achieving lasting change. I have devoured thousands (literally) of books to build on my understanding. And I've given everything I have to overcome abuse, trauma, addictions, illness, and much more. I now love my life and want to show you how you can, too.
In This Book, I’m Going to Show You:
● How to search deep inside for the answers you’ve been missing so you know what choices to make
● How to break through obstacles no matter how tough they seem
● How to change the parts that have seemed completely stuck FOREVER – like crippling fears, addictions, and trying to shed excess pounds
What You’ll Get:
● An assessment of where your life is right now
● A simple 10-year plan you can create in just a few hours
● Wisdom and encouragement on how to Dig Deep so you can Stand Tall
● Guidance and personal examples for every step in the process
This is a book about lasting change. About how to design your life, YOUR WAY.
Don't let this opportunity to change your life be one of those that passes you by.
Author bio
Adrian Hayward is the author of Dig Deep, Stand Tall—a message of solidarity and a guide to self-transformation for those yearning for a rich, fulfilled life. He believes in the wealth that’s inside of us: our vital selves, our inner directions, and the intuition that guides us. Having overcome everything from abuse to addiction, homelessness, mental illness, and physical pain, he is passionate about sharing his learnings with anyone facing their dark moments. Adrian writes in a style that’s hopeful, challenging, honest, and inspirational—and his one goal: to help as many people as he can to experience the profoundness of living a life of their dreams.
Promote your book/blog/youtube etc. Affordable options with a big audience
Hi everyone! I am a huge advocate for content creators and writers. I love to boost self-published indie/small press authors, as well as creators such as bloggers, youtubers and instagrammers and small businesses. I wanted to make a post to chat about some of the things I offer which are at affordable prices and come with a loyal growing audience.
Ongoing advertising
My Ko-Fi membership option includes promotion for your book/blog/youtube etc. with your name and links included at the end of every blog post I publish. Each post receives hundreds of views and I post often, with thousands of views a month. As an example, last month my blog received over 20k views.Freelance Marketing: Tips To Set You Up for Success
With the evolution of the digital marketing space, freelance marketing has become a good way for creators to showcase their creativity. In addition, it enables them to make connections and ultimately grow their network. As a result, most companies are always in need of freelance marketers to help them leverage their social media platforms for marketing purposes.
So what is freelance marketing? Freelance marketers help companies and businesses to advertise their brands. If you are a beginner freelance marketer, ensure that you possess tangible marketing skills that will help grow brands and make more sales for various companies.
In addition, make efforts to improve your skills and ace your game. Here are tips to help you become better at freelance marketing as a beginner.
Book Review: The Fast Little Fox (The Fast Little Fox & Friends book #1) by Jill Horton
What I'm Focusing on This Year
Book Review: Shadowless by Randall McNally
Book Review: Little Wanderers: The Everlasting Seasons by I. K. Silver
Author: I. K. Silver
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Buy links: Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com
Indie Showcase #5 Science Fiction Books
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Authors work really hard, pouring all of themselves into creating their passion projects and achieving their dreams. One thing that I want to do is to help authors to reach a wider audience and make more sales. Something very important for all authors, is receiving reviews. Reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Waterstones and other shop websites help authors to find even more readers. Sometimes authors will run deals such as offering their book for free or for a cheaper price so that readers can access their books and review them for others to find. In these indie showcase posts I am going to share some of these books. Please check out any books that you are interested in and leave reviews online! See other indie showcase posts on my book lists page.Dasjenya hates his society’s powerful overlords. In an effort to prove the Aosha in no way merit the right to bombard whole civilizations out of existence, Dasjenya gathers a scientific mission and heads into our planet’s forbidden wastelands.
Strange voices chant warnings, reality shifts and falling meteoric debris obliterates every trace of the world he has ever known.
Flung into the past, he must now embrace a new role within an elite and thriving Aoshan culture. In fact, Dasjenya must now work alongside a younger version of the very Aoshan whose future autocratic ways forced his journey.
To save Earth, can Dasjenya—for all our sakes!—close the gap between who he has been and who he must be?
Part quest novel, part post-apocalyptic time-travel adventure and part love story set in humanity’s near future, this story of human courage will thrill readers who have enjoyed C.J. Cherryh’s Wave Without a Shore, Julian May’s The Many-Colored Land, or Sheri S. Tepper’s The Gate to Women’s Country.
From the author of Many Moons, Lesser Beings, and Cross the Sky.
The new planet seems perfect; plenty of resources, good settlement locations, habitable climates. After what happened to Earth, Nina is conscious that they need to take better care of this one. It takes all sorts to make a world, and Nina’s got all sorts asleep in her cryobay; not only the people required to build it, but the ones to make it feel like home, too. After all, what good is saving humanity if you leave the best parts of it behind?
Some people find it easier than others to start new lives here on the other side of the galaxy, but then, it all depends on what they left behind. As Nina navigates relationships old and new, will she finally find the one thing she’s never had: a home?
Set in 2049 America, it is the story of Diana Gutierrez-Adams, a U.S. Space Force officer and war hero. She is tasked with retrieving her cryogenically frozen grandfather from a remote region outside the “pods” where 90% of the population live. When she and her military unit are captured by a domestic militia, she is caught up in a conspiracy that reaches higher than anyone can imagine.
To evade a devious enemy who is one step ahead of them at every turn, Diana must outsmart a global monitoring system that tracks her every move. On a trail littered with the dystopian remains of middle-class America, she comes face-to-face with an artificial intelligence that threatens the future of all humankind.
Book Review: Childish Spirits by Rob Keeley
This book was kindly sent to me to review. However, all opinions are my own and honest. This post also contains affiliate links.
Title: Childish Spirits
Author: Rob Keeley
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
Buy links: Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com
This book follows two children who move into an old house and spooky things begin to happen which leads to the children meeting spirits and trying to solve a mystery.
Our two main characters, Ellie and Charlie, or 'Chas' were introduced well from the beginning, with personality and their own individual characteristics which made me more invested in what was going to happen to them.
The build-up and foreshadowing were excellently implemented and it made me keen to read on and find out what exactly was going to happen and what the cause of the strange occurrences was.
I do feel like I would have liked more information about the family's background in the first few chapters so I could see where they had come from and why they had moved to this place.
The sense of foreboding increased chapter by chapter as we found out more about a spirit living in the house. It was quite dark in places, with mentions of child death.
I also found the children's relationship with their dad a bit strange with conversations between them not feeling fully realistic.
One of the spirits was actually quite creepy and this added to the dark atmosphere of the book. I enjoyed seeing Ellie and Charlie questioning the situation and delving more into the mystery and I wanted to know what had happened.
If you are looking for a quick contemporary mystery with spirits and that also deals with family relationships, I would recommend checking this book out.
My rating: 3/5 stars