Valentine's Day Whimsey Jar

Hello everyone!!

Are you excited for Valentine's Day? Because I sure am! I've signed up for a couple of Valentine's Day themed swaps on Swap-Bot and am pretty excited! The first of such swaps in a Valentine's Day swap is a Whimsey Jar. I had to use my other one, didn't I? This one was a lot more fun to put together, in my opinion. Probably because I love Valentine's Day and I found lots of nice things to include, like deco tape, stickers, and a cute little decorative bag. Hopefully my match likes their jar! I like it so much I almost don't want to give it up, haha.

The send by date is January 31st, so I'm not trying to start the V-Day celebrations too early! I'll post some of the other Valentine's Day swaps I'm doing soon. (:

Here are some pictures! Cheers!

One Postcard A Week # 1

"The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there." - The Hobbit

So on Swap-Bot someone is hosting one postcard swap a week. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do all the weeks, but here's what I picked for the first week! It is encouraged that you do a quotation with each postcard, so I have included my choice.

The first week was actually a bit ago, but since I haven't participated since I thought I would post now. :P

Cheers!

Let's Get Whimsical Swap!

Greetings everyone!

Recently I decided to step outside my fandom and postcard boundaries (as that is what I have been swapping on Swap-Bot as of late) and went for a Whimsey Jar swap.

This was my first time putting one together, and it was pretty daunting. Your partner had to list 5-9 themes for you to go with, and I decided with Shabby (with some bird stuff as another one my partner picked was little birds). It was so hard to find things to include! I think I'm just worried it won't be good enough. I included little keys, some fabric flowers, some stickers, some pretty on a spool fabric... :S I hope she likes it.

It was also hard because you had to decorate the front, and I was at a loss for what to do! Oh well. For my first go around I think it turned out all right.

I had to buy most of the things to include, since I didn't have a lot already. Luckily I had a coupon for Michael's, so that was great to use. I got the jar in a two pack in the Target $1 section (I believe for $3 for the two of them). I had gotten two of these jars previously and another cap so I use mine for lemonade in the summer. (:

Anyway, here are some pictures! The lighting in the winter is terrible here - I'm thinking of getting a different flash or asking my SO to make me a lightbox to compensate.

Cheers!

The Fifty Year Sword; A Review

The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I agree with another review of this book, stating that MZD is an experimental storyteller. He wants to test limits and boundaries.

I loved the stitch work art in this piece, and I found the story to be interesting, but nothing that kept me on the edge of my seat. Maybe I'll have to check out a video of the "live performance" to see what I think.

My criticism for this book is it felt like it tried too hard. It wanted to make leaps and bounds and keep you hooked, but I felt like I was going through the motions, reading it. All the characters but one have extremely odd names, and this didn't add to the book, but instead confused me because apparently this book is supposed to take place in Eastern Texas.

Overall I'd say it's an interesting and quick read, but nothing worth critical acclaim.

View all my reviews

The Mapmaker's War; A Review

The Mapmaker's War by Ronlyn Domingue
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I found the plot of this book to be mesmerizing, I found it hard to get "in" to the narrative and really submerse myself in the story. The characters felt distant and at times dull to me. I felt as if I never really knew any of them. And perhaps this distance was on purpose, but it made it hard for me to feel the strong emotions and sense of peace and understanding that this book spends so much time describing.

I also found the story to at times feel pointless. I understand it was written as if it were an autobiography, but it also didn't quite feel like that; I got the impression that the story within the life was more important than the life which told the story, but this separation was muddled and confusing at times.

I would like to read the sequel, and see if I still have the same feelings - I suppose we'll find out.

View all my reviews

Booklikes/Goodreads Tag

I have just discovered Booklikes, and I am currently trying to figure it out (we'll see) but I found this fun tag from Bookwormblurbs so I thought I'd give it a go.

1. What was the last book you marked as 'Read'?

 The Tenth City by Patrick Carman

2. What are you 'Currently Reading'?

 I am reading both Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman as well as Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

3. What was the last book you marked as 'To-Read'?

 Into the Mist by Patrick Carman, it's a sort of prequel to the Land of Elyon series (of which is The Tenth City)

4. What book do you plan to read next?

 Uff. Good question. I've sort of started 1Q48 by Haruki Murakami, but it may be the Book Your Brains Out book of the month to read, so I'm holding off to see what we pick (and if it is indeed that book, it'll be that I read next)

5. Do you use the star rating system?

 I try to, as well as actually writing out a review (although sometimes it's a rather short review that I write)

6. Are you doing a 2014 reading challenge?

 I am! I picked a modest number of 20, which isn't really a challenge at all, but mostly because as of this spring I graduated with my BA and so I was quite busy and did not have time for pleasure reading. At one point I read about 100 books a year, and I'd like to get back to that again.

7. Do you have a wishlist?

I have some books on my amazon wishlist, but I would like to get all the books on my "to read" list (which is already quite long but is also ever-growing)

8. What book do you want to buy next?

Good question. Probably the last book in the Across the Universe trilogy, which is Shades of Earth. I somehow ended up with one pretty cover for Across the Universe and an ugly one for A Million Suns, so I'd also like to get a copy with a nice cover (and then I'd bookcross the one that I currently have)

9. Do you have any favorite quotes? Would you like to share a few?

 “I remember wishing the moment would hold forever; that we could be fixed there, laughing and iridescent... Then I got panicky because I knew it would pass; that it was passing already.” Tina Howe, Painting Churches

10. Who are your favorite authors?

 J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, to name a few

11. Have you joined any groups?

Not on goodreads/booklikes, but on leafnotes, yes. 

12. Are there any questions you'd like to add to this tag?

No (: 

I tag:

Anyone and everyone!

Summer Steam Sale

Well, the summer steam sale got me. Literally EVERY SINGLE GAME on my wishlist was on sale. And since I have a new cord for my desktop computer's monitor, it's time to play some games, I think. I picked three to get right now since I'm a little low on funds, but they've all gotten great reviews (and I've wanted to play Fable since I saw my friend playing it on the xbox when we were kids) so there ya go. I'll (maybe?) do reviews after some playtime.