Popular YA Books: Have I Read Them?

I decided to take part in The Bookternet All Stars Charity Challenge where you go through popular YA books/authors and say if you have read them or not and what your opinions are! There is also a donation page for COVID-19 relief charities which I have linked below.

As I wrote this post, I noticed that I have some potentially controversial opinions so I apologise in advance! I feel like my reading tastes are very varied! So here is my post about what I have and haven't read:

Future Plans You Should Be Making During Lockdown

It’s a difficult time for everybody at the moment and we are all having to maintain social distancing to make sure that everybody is as safe as they can be. Many of us are struggling to get to grips with being at home all of the time, and it’s important that you find ways to entertain yourself so you can keep your spirits up. There are a lot of things that you can do at home to keep yourself busy, but one of the best things to do is to start thinking about what you are going to do when the lockdown lifts. This situation has caused a lot of people to reconsider their priorities in life and stop taking things for granted, so now is the best time to start planning what you are going to do once the crisis is over. These are some of the future plans that you should make during lockdown.

Source - Pixabay CCO License

9 Ways To Keep Busy While Social Distancing

During these unexpected times, many people are finding themselves with fewer things to do than usual. Even if you are still working from home, or are one of the many key workers doing a great job, there is still the time when you would be out doing things that you enjoy that you can't do at the moment. This change has been hard on a lot of people. Motivation can be hard to come by, and if you do have the motivation to do something, you might not know what to do.

It is okay if all you want to do is look after yourself by taking a shower and binge-watching some television shows, but if you want to do something else, below are a few ideas that might inspire you:

(Pixabay)

Things That I Have Been Trying For Self-Care

Hi everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. This has been a period of worsening mental health for quite a few of us and I have been trying to find ways to practice self-care and manage my well being so that I feel better. Here are some things that I have been trying. If you have any other suggestions please let me know!

Colouring

 I have found colouring to be a useful way of breaking myself out of negative thinking. I have a few colouring books and I just chose which page I felt like colouring in at that time. I've been compiling a list of colouring books here, some I own and love and others look interesting to me and I would like to try in the future.

4 Ways To Make Your Home More Beautiful & Attractive

Pexels

You spend a lot of waking hours in and around your home. While you may love it, you might also know deep down that there’s a lot of work you need to do to it. You may want to invest in improving the looks of it for a variety of reasons. It may be that you want a refresh or that you’re moving home.

No matter the reason, be glad to know that there are a few practical ways to make it more beautiful and attractive. The nicer your house looks, the more likely you’ll enjoy it and more eager you’ll be to have guests over so you can show it off. Avoid putting it off any longer and begin making a list and deciding which projects you want to start tackling next.

Unexpected Ways to Keep Your Mental Health on Track

Your mental health is vital to your general wellbeing and managing to keep it on track is always an achievement. There are lots of ways to keep your mental health in check and some of these things might be unexpected. If you’re stuck in a rut and you’re not sure how to improve your frame of mind, we’ve got some small changes that might help you feel a little better and more balanced in life. Read on to find out more.

Help Others

One way to feel better about yourself is to start helping out other people. Not everyone is in the same fortunate position as yourself and it can make you feel better about yourself to put other people first and help them out when they need it most. Whether that means helping out your elderly neighbour or doing something for the family is up to you. There are a lot of ways to do it.

Learning French Journal #7 Asking Questions

Hi everyone! I've been trying to teach myself French for a while and I thought it would be fun to create some blog posts as I go along to help myself study so I will be doing regular posts on French. In my last post I discussed asking how someone is, answering this and being polite. In this post I will be looking at some information about asking questions. Please note this is not a study guide, if I make any mistakes please let me know!

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Asking question:
To ask a question, increase your tone at the end of a sentence, put est-ce que (ehs kuh) at the front of the sentence, change the order of the words in the sentence or use a question word.

Learning French Journal #6 Talking to People (How Are You & Being Polite)

Hi everyone! I've been trying to teach myself French for a while and I thought it would be fun to create some blog posts as I go along to help myself study so I will be doing regular posts on French. In my last post I discussed meeting people. In this post I will be looking at having a basic discussion. Please note this is not a study guide, if I make any mistakes please let me know!

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How are you?

Formal
Comment allez-vous? (koh-mahN tah-ley-vooh?)

Informal
ça va? (sah vah?)

Comment ça va? (koh-mahN sah vah?

Learning French Journal #5 Meeting People

Hi everyone! I've been trying to teach myself French for a while and I thought it would be fun to create some blog posts as I go along to help myself study so I will be doing regular posts on French. In my last post I discussed times. In this post I will be looking at meeting people. Please note this is not a study guide, if I make any mistakes please let me know!

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You

Formal

Use vous (vooh) for strangers, workers, managers and older people.

Informal

Use tu (tew) for friends, animals, children and young people in informal settings.

Note:
Vous is also used as the plural for you in both formal and informal settings.

How I'm Reading More!

I love reading. Books are something that have become so important to me and so much part of my life. I tend to find reading difficult with my mental health, it can be hard to focus or even pick up a book. I go through a lot of reading slumps! But lately I have been reading more and I have surpassed my original Goodreads goal of 20 books! So I wanted to talk about what has been helping me to read more: