O.W.L.s Magical Readathon 2020 TBR

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Hey everyone!

I’m so incredibly excited that it’s O.W.L.s time again! This readathon was created by the incredible G over at Book Roast. For this readathon, you need to choose a profession, then complete the O.W.L.s prompts for the required subjects you will need to pass before taking your N.E.W.T.s. There are so many amazing careers to choose from and I actually ended up going with two because I couldn’t decide!

Profession(s):

Curse Breaker
Trader of Magical Tomes

Exams Required:

Ancient Runes
Arithmancy
Charms
Defense Against the Dark Arts
History of Magic

Potions
Transfiguration

Ancient Runes – Heart Rune: heart on the cover or in the title

cogheart

Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

Arithmancy – Magical qualities of the number “2”: balance/opposites – read something outside your favorite genre (which is Fantasy)

darkplaces

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Charms – Lumos Maxima: white cover

winterwoodowlcrate

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw (Owlcrate Edition)

Defense Against the Dark Arts – Grindylows: book set at the sea/coast

allthestarsandteethowlcrate

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

History of Magic – Witch Hunts: book featuring witches/wizards

strangegrace

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton

Potions – Shrinking Solution: book under 150 pages

theseawasafairmaster

The Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer

Transfiguration – Animagus Lecture: book/series that includes shapeshifting

houseofearthandblood

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Back up:

emberandtheicedragons

Ember and the Ice Dragons by Heather Fawcett

Not Needed—Extra Credit!

Astronomy – Night Classes: read the majority of this book when it’s dark outside

thekingdomofback

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

Care of Magical Creatures – Hippogriffs: creature with a beak on the cover

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Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez

Divination – Third Eye: assign numbers to your TBR and use a random number generator to pick your read

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Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

Herbology – Mimbulus Mimbletonia: title that starts with an “M”

museofnightmares

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Muggle Studies – Book from a perspective of a muggle (contemporary)

redwhiteandroyalblue

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Let me know if you are participating in the readathon too!

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O.W.L.s Magical Readathon 2019 TBR

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Hey everyone!

So, I know I’m extremely late getting to this AND I’ve already taken (and passed!) my N.E.W.T.s, but I feel my Hogwarts studies are incomplete. Since I didn’t find out about the O.W.L.s until it was too late, I figured I would spend the next month taking them so I can officially call myself a Mind Medic! So from November 1st to November 30th, I will be participating in my own little O.W.L.s readathon! And here is my planned TBR for the month.

Profession:

Mind Medic

Exams Required:

Ancient Runes
Arithmancy
Charms
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Herbology
Muggle Studies
Potions
Transfiguration

Ancient Runes – Retelling

snowglassapples

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

Arithmancy – Work written by more than one author

gemina

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Charms – Age-line: Read an adult work

thescorchedearth

The Scorched Earth by Rachael Blok

Defense Against the Dark Arts – Reducto: Title that Stars with “R”

recursion

Recursion by Blake Crouch

Herbology – Plant on the cover

thesleeperandthespindle

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Muggle Studies – Contemporary

keepinglongisland

Keeping Long Island by Courtney Peppernell

Potions – Next ingredient: Sequel

tunnelofbones

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

Transfiguration – Sprayed edges or red cover

thissavagesong

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Not Needed—Extra Credit!

Astronomy – “Star” in the title

thestarlesssea

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Care of Magical Creatures – Land animal on the cover

shadowandbone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Divination – Set in the future

cress

Cress by Marissa Meyer

History of Magic – Published at least 10 years ago

howlsmovingcastle

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The N.E.W.T.s readathon back in August went so well and I got through more books than I have in a month for a while, so I’m hoping that will be true this month as well! If you guys participated in the O.W.L.s this year, make sure to let me know in the comments how you did and what you read!

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N.E.W.T.s Magical Readathon 2019 Wrap-Up

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Wow, August was an absolutely insane month! Between my Hogwarts studies and my real life university studies, I can’t believe I’m still standing at this point. But, I successfully completed my first-ever readathon! And for it to be a Harry Potter-themed readathon makes it even more awesome. I had so much fun taking (and passing!) my N.E.W.T.s. I’m so happy I gave this a try. In total, I ended up reading twelve books which is more than I’ve read in a month in a while. So, without further ado, here is a look at my readathon results. I’m planning on having full reviews up for all of these at some point this month, so keep an eye out!

Profession:

Mind Medic

Grades Required:

O in Charms
O in Defense Against the Dark Arts
E in Muggle Studies
E in Potions
E in Transfiguration

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A: Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover

houseofsaltandsorrow

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (Full Review)

5.0 TARDISes

E: Read a comic/graphic novel/manga (or book under 150 pages)

mooncakes

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker (Full Review)

4.0 TARDISes

O: Spongeify (softening charm) – Read a paperback book

yourheartisthesea

Your Heart Is The Sea by Nikita Gill (Full Review)

4.0 TARDISes

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A: Book that’s black under the dust jacket

skyinthedeep

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (Full Review Coming Soon)

3.5 TARDISes

E: Gilderoy’s memory charm – first book that you remembered just now from your TBR

hishideousheart

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler (Full Review)

4.0 TARDISes

O: Cornish Pixie! Swat it away with a book written by an English author or set in England

thedollfactory

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal (Full Review Coming Soon)

2.5 TARDISes

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A: Cover that includes an actual photo element (person, item, place, etc.)

theperfectwife

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney (Full Review)

4.5 TARDISes

E: Book set in our real world

theescaperoom

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin (Full Review Coming Soon)

3.0 TARDISes

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A: Polyjuice Potion – Read your friend’s favorite book

peterpan

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

4.0 TARDISes

E: House ingredient – book with a cover in your Hogwarts house color (Ravenclaw)

doctorwhomythsandlegends

Doctor Who: Myths and Legends by Richard Dinnick (Full Review Coming Soon)

3.0 TARDISes

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A: Read a book with LGBTQA+ representation

ziggystardustandme

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon (Full Review)

4.5 TARDISes

E: Read a book that’s not a first in the series

spellslinger

Restricted Section Swap: Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell (Full Review Coming Soon)

4.0 TARDISes

And now I’m a Mind Medic! I’m so pleased with how this readathon went and it’s made me really eager to do another one soon. I’m thinking of maybe doing the O.W.L.s readathon before the end of the year since I missed it, just so I can feel my studies are complete! How about you guys? Did any of you do the N.E.W.T.s Magical Readathon this past month? If so, let me know how you did, or if not, let me know what your favorite books of the month were!

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N.E.W.T.s Magical Readathon 2019 TBR

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I’ve been seeing these readathons going around a lot lately and I figured I should give one a try! I missed the O.W.L.s Magical Readathon, but I thought I would just jump in with this one anyway. These readathons were created by the incredible G over at Book Roast. For this readathon, you need to choose a profession, then complete the N.E.W.T.s prompts to receive the grades required for your chosen career. It was insanely difficult to choose a career as there are so many amazing ones! But I decided—since I’m a psychology major—to choose the Mind Medic profession.

Mind Medic

O in Charms

A: Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover

houseofsaltandsorrow

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

E: Read a comic/graphic novel/manga (or book under 150 pages)

mooncakes

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

O: Spongeify (softening charm) – Read a paperback book

yourheartisthesea

Your Heart Is The Sea by Nikita Gill

O in Defense Against the Dark Arts

A: Book that’s black under the dust jacket

skyinthedeep

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

E: Gilderoy’s memory charm – first book that you remembered just now from your TBR

hishideousheart

His Hideous Heart by Various

O: Cornish Pixie! Swat it away with a book written by an English author or set in England

thedollfactory

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

E in Muggle Studies

A: Cover that includes an actual photo element (person, item, place, etc.)

theperfectwife

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney

E: Book set in our real world

theescaperoom

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

O: Book written by a person of color

thestarsandtheblacknessbetweenthem

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

E in Potions

A: Polyjuice Potion – Read your friend’s favorite book

peterpan

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

E: House ingredient – book with a cover in your Hogwarts house color (Ravenclaw)

doctorwhomythsandlegends

Doctor Who: Myths and Legends by Richard Dinnick

O: Book that starts with a prologue

theladyrogue

The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett

E in Transfiguration

A: Read a book with LGBTQA+ representation

ziggystardustandme

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon

E: Read a book that’s not a first in the series

cress

 

Cress by Marissa Meyer

O: McGonagall does not mess around! Read a book over 500 pages

royalassassin

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Restricted Section: Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

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Let me know if you are participating in the readathon too!

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3 Days, 3 Quotes Tag: Day 3

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I was tagged by the lovely Liz from Stellar Kitten Book Reviews to do the 3 Days, 3 Quotes tag! If you’ve been around this blog for a while, you’ll already know how much I adore quotes. Thank you so much for tagging me, Liz! Make sure you all take some time to go check out her blog. 🙂 ❤

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“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

I Tag:

Heather @ The Sassy Book Geek

Anna @ My Bookish Dream

Ashleigh @ A Frolic Through Fiction

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The Harry Potter Tag

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I was tagged to do the Harry Potter Tag by the lovely Kai from Black Cat Kai. Thank you so much for the tag, Kai! Make sure to stop by and check out her blog! 😀

This awesome tag and all of the corresponding art was created by two fantastic book bloggers—Lashaan and Trang from Bookidote. The only rule of the tag: you cannot use Harry Potter books for any of your answers.

Let’s get this tag started!

flagrate

A book where you found the theme interesting, but you’d like to rewrite it.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin

The concept of the novel was incredibly interesting—it was intended to be formatted in a way that was sort of like found footage movies, but in book form. That style, along with a plot focusing on a murder mystery while making a commentary on celebrity culture, should have theoretically made for a great novel. However, there was no mystery, the characters felt too much like stereotypical caricatures, and the text itself was like reading paperwork. I’d definitely rewrite this to fix those elements. Click here to check out my full review of The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone!

alohomora

The first book in a series that got you hooked.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I haven’t read all that many series so far in my life, and since I can’t use Harry Potter here, that narrows my list even further! However, The Hunger Games immediately comes to mind here because it was the first series I really got excited about after Harry Potter ended. I absolutely devoured this book, and it quickly made this one of my all-time favorite trilogies!

accio

A book you wish you could have right now.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

I can’t decide between the two—I’m so excited for both. Not only are these books by two of my auto-buy authors, the stories themselves sound absolutely fantastic. I need them in my hands ASAP!

avadakedavra

A killer book. Both senses. Take it as you like.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Well, doesn’t this just fit here perfectly! Seriously, this book is killer. It’s by far the most captivating, well-written, and brilliantly plotted book I’ve ever read. Click here to check out my full review of Gone Girl!

confundo

A book that you found really confusing.

The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu

I read this a couple of years ago and to this day I’m still not certain how I felt about it. The concept for the plot was intriguing, but the actual execution of it was not the smoothest. I found that the story jumped around far too much, making it choppy and hard to follow. On top of that, it at times felt like the author was unsure of where he wanted the story to go. Overall, it unfortunately ended up being a jumbled and unsatisfying read.

epectopatronum

Your spirit animal book.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Is anyone surprised by this? 😀 My brain is essentially solely comprised of superheroes and supervillains, so this book is everything a nerd like me ever wanted and more. Morally ambiguous characters are my favorite to both read and write about, as well as the intriguing psychology elements that inevitably come into a plot along with them. Between the vivid characters, fascinating storyline, and stellar writing, there is no doubt in my mind that Vicious is my spirit animal! Click here to check out my full review of Vicious!

spetumsemtra

A dark, twisted book.

Alice by Christina Henry

I absolutely love reading dark stories and have read tons over the years, but this is definitely the darkest and most twisted one I’ve come across so far. If you enjoy those kinds of book though, I would highly recommend it because it was fantastic! I will actually have a full review of this up on here one day, I promise!

adaasd

A book that surprised you in a great way, reveals to be more than it is.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Whenever I think of books that surprised me, this instantly comes to mind. I was expecting a much different type of story than what it turned out to be, and I think that made me love it even more. There are so many layers, so much complexity in what is an outwardly simple and straightforward story. It is a remarkably beautiful piece of literature. Click here to check out my full review of A Monster Calls!

nominees

Heather @ The Sassy Book Geek

Anna @ My Bookish Dream

Ashleigh @ A Frolic Through Fiction

Jessica @ The Awkward Book Blogger

Yasmin and Paige @ The Wild Readers

Kayla @ Bookedsolid1989

The Orang-utan Librarian

Emma @ The Terror of Knowing

Michelle @ The Sapphire

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The Childhood Book Tag

I was tagged by The Orang-utan Librarian to do the Childhood Book Tag. Thank you so much for tagging me! The Orang-utan Librarian is an absolutely fantastic book blogger, so please make sure to stop by and check out this blog! 🙂

1. First book you remember reading on your own?

thehousekeepersdogI have a pretty terrible memory, so this is sort of a difficult question for me! I started reading on my own around the age of three or so, but that was quite a while back so I don’t remember a lot of the first books that I read. However, I do very clearly remember reading a book called The Housekeeper’s Dog when I was about four or five. I also remember being really proud that I could read this book, and not only reading it multiple times to my parents, but also calling up my grandma and reading it to her over the phone!

2. First book you remember having your parents read to you?

foxinsocksBooks have always played an extremely important role in our family/household, and ever since I was very young, my parents constantly encouraged me to read. I know that they read to me very often for years, back so far that I am unable to specifically remember a fair amount of those books. The first book I can distinctly recall them reading to me, however, was Fox in Socks.

3. Book you read because of your parents? Because of a friend?

thelionthewitchandthewardrobeFor this one, I’m going to have to go with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. My mom grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia and it is one of her favorite series of all time. So of course, when I showed a love of reading, this was one of the first series of books that she got me to read. And I am so glad that I did, because I absolutely adore these novels!

4. Favorite book from school?

37449I don’t think it will shock anyone to hear me say that To Kill a Mockingbird is by far my favorite book from school. This novel is just the most brilliant and wonderful thing I have ever read in my life. And here I go again, keeping up my streak of working it into every single book tag post that I write… 😀

5. Favorite book in elementary school?

hp2chamberI had a lot of favorite books during elementary school because, not only was I in elementary school when the Harry Potter books started to come out, but it was also when I discovered The Chronicles of Narnia. Really any of the books from the latter or the first few Harry Potter books could work for this question. However, if I had to choose, I would probably have to go with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This is my favorite book of the series, and is also extremely special to me because it was the first one I was able to read completely on my own when it was originally published.

6. In middle school?

andthentherewerenone…Would you guys be mad at me if I said To Kill a Mockingbird again? 😀 Come on, I read it for the first time in seventh grade so of course it was my favorite of middle school! Just to change it up a bit though, I’ll throw another one of my favorite novels, And Then There Were None, in there.

7. In high school?

thehungergamesThis is an incredibly difficult one to choose because a sizable amount of my all-time favorite books are ones I read during high school. I think I will have to go with The Hunger Games for this question. This stands out to me because, not only do I completely adore this book, but it was also the novel that got me interested in dystopians. This is now not only a type of story I enjoy reading, but a type that I absolutely love to write as well.

8. Book you gave up on as a kid that you’d like to revisit?

I can’t actually think of anything that would fit this question. I find it nearly impossible to give up in the middle of books unless I have an extremely good reason to. And that reason is usually that I truly do not want to finish them. So nope, nothing that I want to revisit!

9. Book you checked out from the library the most as a kid?

thebadbeginningThis is another question that I can’t think of an answer for. I don’t really remember checking out any particular book multiple times. I tend to not do rereads very often, and all the ones I have done over the years were of books that I already owned. So for this question, I am going to say the A Series of Unfortunate Events novels, because I remember checking these out a lot!

10. Book you made all your friends read?

theadventuresofsherlockholmesUm…To Kill a Mockingb…Okay, you know what? For variety’s (and sanity’s) sake, we are just going to go with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for this one, even though that is a slightly more recent occurrence. I’ve totally been pushing this on everyone I know who hasn’t read it yet. And if you are reading this post and have not picked up one or both of these novels mentioned, hereby consider them being pushed on you as well! 😀

11. The book that made you love reading?

harrypotterandthesorcerersstoneAgain, this would be a toss up between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I had been reading for a few years before I came to either of these, but they were the novels that truly kick started my passion for reading and love of the written word. If I had to choose one, I would probably go with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This is a novel that I have a very distinct and very fond recollection of reading at bedtime each night with my parents right after it was first released, and by The Chamber of Secrets, I was reading them on my own (over and over again!).

12. Favorite middle grade read?

10694831A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I am fairly, though not entirely, sure that this is a middle grade novel. This is by far one of the most poignant and beautiful novels that I have ever read, and I completely adore it.

13. Favorite young adult read?

cinderI am revising this to “one of my favorites” because there is no way I am going to be able to choose just one ultimate favorite. I am also going to choose something that I have not yet mentioned in this tag, so I would say Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I love retellings, and this is definitely the most interesting and unique one that I have read so far.

14. First long series you read as a kid?

thechroniclesofnarniaThe first long series that I read in its entirety as a kid would be The Chronicles of Narnia. I finished this well before I completed series like Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Since all of the books in this series were obviously published well before I began reading them, I ended up binge reading every single one in the space of a couple of months.

15. How did you learn to read? How old were you?

Screen Shot 2015-12-21 at 3.16.10 AMI started to learn how to read when I was around one or two years old. I began by memorizing the text of stories from hearing my family read to me, and then I would flip through the books myself and go over the words. Eventually something must have clicked and I began really reading on my own around age three. And boy, did I read a lot!

16. How obsessed were you with the scholastic book fairs as a kid?

Completely obsessed! It was one of my favorite events of the school year; it was like Christmas! I spent far too much time wandering around the book fair and probably far too much money buying books…but it was the greatest! 😀

I Tag:

Heather @ The Sassy Book Geek

Kayla @ Bookedsolid1989

Anna @ My Bookish Dream

Yasmin and Paige @ The Wild Readers

Emily @ The Little Book Affair

Cleo @ Cuddlewithbooks

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The Versatile Blogger Award #1

I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by the lovely Michelle over at Book Adventures. Thank you so much for the nomination, Michelle! 🙂 She is an absolutely fantastic book blogger, so be sure to head on over and check her blog out!

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versatilebloggerawardThe Rules:

Show the award on your blog.

Thank the person that has nominated you.

Share 7 different facts about yourself.

Nominate a number of blogs of your choice.

Link your nominees and let them know they are nominated.

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Random Facts About Me:

  1. I am a massive comic book/superhero/super villain fan. Specifically anything Marvel. I’m basically obsessed with all things Marvel.

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  1. I am not a fan of audiobooks. I have only ever listened to a few, and I find that I can never concentrate on them enough to get the same amount out of the story as I do when I read it myself. It ends up making the experience less enjoyable for me.
  1. My top favorite movies of all time are Back to the Future, The Birdcage, To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Miss Sunshine, Rear Window, Rebecca, and The Lego Movie. And basically any Marvel movie…

thebirdcageposter backtothefutureposter littlemisssunshineposter

  1. I am a huge fan of MST3K, and I love getting together with friends and/or family and doing our own little version of it ourselves with bad movies we find!

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  1. I have 10 piercings (and would like more 🙂 ), all on my ears: three on each lobe, double helix piercing on the left, single helix and rook piercings on the right.

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  1. I am extremely sensitive to loud noises (even though I am one…) and, for that reason, was too freaked out to see movies in the theater until I was eight years old. The first movie I ever saw in theaters was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!
  1. I absolutely love to dance, but I’m not particularly good at it. In fact, I think I’m a pretty awkward dancer…but hey, I have fun! 🙂

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I Nominate:

The Orang-utan Librarian

Rachel @ (bargain)bookbliss

Shivalika @ Whimsy Journals

Sarah @ Sarah’s Bookshelf

Ava @ Bookishness and Tea

Kendra @ Reads and Treats

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