Tag: blogging

Posted in Book Talk, Chatty

How to write a blog post when you have no ideas: a memoir

Posted on by Jennifer

Hey y’all! This post is definitely inspired by my own lack of inspiration right now. So since I can’t seem to get something solid out of my mushy brain at the moment, I came up with some ideas for what to do next time this happens! For me, for you, for anyone — if you’re feeling stuck give these a go!

You’re welcome, future me.

  • read posts by some other favorite bloggers
  • review old posts of your own and see if you have any opinions that have changed
  • read an old review for a book that you’ve since re-read and see if you felt any differently on the latest read
  • a list of books you weren’t into right away but loved by the time you finished
  • check out different bookish memes and see if one strikes you (Top 5 Saturday / Tuesday, Let’s Talk Bookish, First Lines Friday…)
  • write a review, because you KNOW there are books that you never got around to reviewing 😂
  • look up pictures of libraries in cities you want to visit because they’ll be gorgeous and then you’ll want to visit them even more 😍
    fun fact (or maybe just a nerdy-me fact): when I was in Amsterdam I spent an entire day reading and exploring in their library because IT IS AMAZING.
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Posted in Book Talk, Chatty

August 2020 Wrap-Up (It’s already September?!)

Posted on by Jennifer

reading~

How many of my planned books did I read:
I planned 11. Of those, I read 7 and one is in progress. I also read 4 others, so a total of 11 overall. Does that count? 😂

the plan

the result

There were a few accidents in here. Like I chose Heartsongs with the idea of adding a nice bit of poetry to my reading. However, I didn’t realize that Heartsongs was written by a child. Like, a five year old. And it shows. Even the best poetry by a five year old is still about underwear and his favorite foods. That was disappointing since my expectations were drastically different, so if anyone has some recommendations of favorite poetry collections, let me know!

Continue reading “August 2020 Wrap-Up (It’s already September?!)” →
Posted in Book Talk, Chatty

July 2020 Wrap-Up

Posted on by Jennifer

reading~

How many of my planned books did I read:
I think I planned ten, but that was late in the month so it was really like I had already started reading and/or finished a few, and then I added a few more to those. And then proceeded to read completely different things. xD I ended up reading twelve books.

the plan

the result

I got an ARC that I have been absolutely thrilled to get a chance to read: To Sleep In A Sea of Stars. It’s a dense one by Christopher Paolini, so totally in keeping with his usual. It comes out in September, and I’m fangirling pretty hard about it right now. 🥰 I legitimately did a happy squealing dance when I opened the package and my boyfriend watched me hop around the kitchen like a madwoman with no judgment in his eyes. That’s love. 😉

My informational-audibook-while-gaming strategy continued nicely, and I got through Invisible Women by Caroline Perez Criado. This was an enlightening and enraging and tiring and baffling book, yet again. I’m doing a lot of those lately. I realized an issue with audiobooks of nonfiction though: it’s harder to take notes like I usually would with highlights and bookmarks when it’s a spoken version. There was so much data and facts and research that I wish I could have bookmarked some of the more outrageous realities. But one that stuck with me is that the leading killer of women worldwide is oven pollution. Just having shitty ovens that give off crappy fumes. That and the fact that crash test dummies don’t ever account for women. Not even as passengers, where women are most likely to be (a separate issue). Jeez, I’m falling into this trap of ranting about it – I’ll just have to a full post. 😄

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Posted in Book Talk

Word origins: Why is it called a “blog?”

Posted on by Jennifer

I’ve been blogging for over a year now, which is a big exciting accomplishment for me! And yet, it wasn’t until this week that I stopped and thought about how weird the word blog is. It doesn’t sound very nice; in fact it sounds more like a sound you might make while throwing up. 😶

So let’s take a look and find out exactly why there’s a whole community built around this bizarre word and wonderful hobby. ^.^

Origins of the word ‘blog’

When did it first get used?
1998

What does it mean?
In this sense, it’s defined as an online journal

What did it come from?
This was a shortened and tweaked version of “web log,” which was originally a record of server requests.

Web, from World Wide Web. Not sure how many of y’all are old enough / young enough to remember that URLs used to begin with www, but that’s what it came from!

Log, in the sense of a record of observations, thoughts, etc. Think old sea captains, or Star Trek.

“Captain’s Log, Stardate 41153.7. Our destination is planet Deneb IV…”

It’s not a new one, though!

Even though blogging in the sense we use it for writing online is still new, the word blog itself has been used in many other ways through the years. The etymology stretches back:

  • 1750: to look sullen or sulky
  • 1860: a servant-boy at a college (related to the British bloke)
  • 1860: to beat or defeat someone (schoolboy slang)
  • 1898: used of anything resembling a block or log of wood
  • 1969: a generic term for any random person as in “Joe Bloggs,” a default anonymous name
Posted in Book Talk, Chatty

Happy 1 year blogging anniversary to me! 🎂

Posted on by Jennifer

Alright y’all, I’ve got something to celebrate! A few things, actually, which is really nice these days.

I’ve been blogging here for over a year now. OVER A YEAR.

This might seem paltry to some people (like those who just celebrated their ninth year of blogging…) but for me this is huge. I had tried blogging before, and specifically about books, and I just did not keep up with it. I’m also terrible in general at doing things every day (which is why my success with my 365 photo project was also a big deal for me). So, yes, for me this is a big exciting deal!

I also have to laugh when I look back at last year when I started compared to now, a year later. Not only because the world looks very different, but because my blogging habits do too. Wildly so. Let’s share that laugh, shall we?

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