November Recap

Hello everyone! Tomorrow is December, ahh! This month has been pretty fantastic for me, a lot of amazing things happened. Let's get into it ;)

November Goals - Recap

Complete NaNoWrimo. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT BUT.. check! I completed NaNoWrimo which is a great feat for me. Of course, my novel isn't finished but that's December's problem ;) 

Practice my violin at least 6 days out of 7 for at least 30 minutes. Geez, I think I did this.. Well, I know I improved on my audition pieces so that's good :)

Read 8 books. *laughs* no. How did I think I was going to read 8 books during NaNoWrimo? I was crazy. I only read 4-5 (?) but at least I read something 

Reach 125 GFC friends and 70 Bloglovin' friends. No, sadly. But that's alright, I did get some new friends, and that's all that matters!

Not get too overwhelmed and stressed out. No, I didn't do this :( Again, with NaNoWrimo and all the homework, I did find myself getting stressed out a lot but I'll try again this month. 

Blog 5 times on BBK. Shoot, no I only did 3 posts :( But I'll get back up on my game in December and nail this, don't fret. 

Posts You Guys Liked

How To: Write The Perfect Comment

Kids In The Dark

Finding Your Aesthetic

Awkward Thanksgiving Moments

Into My Life

-I won NaNoWrimo! I talked about that already, but it is honestly a great achievement for me. 

-I made the honor roll! Our first grading period of the year just ended and I got a 90+ average so it's the honor roll for me :D

-I got noticed by Dan and Phil! They used my question in Phil is not on fire 7 :)

My life was pretty boring in November as I spent most of my time furiously writing, trying to get my 2,000 words for the day. 

Books I Read in November

In November, I only got around to reading a mere 4 books, I know, sad :( But here are the books I did read this month: (none of these images are mine)

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

The One by Kiera Cass

The Heir by Kiera Cass

Why I'm Looking Forward To December

-WINTER. I love winter (I love all seasons, so I'll be saying the same thing at the end of February but with spring). Even though I don't celebrate Christmas, I still love the joyful and fun vibe of the holiday season. Plus GIFTS, hello! Weirdly enough, I also love Christmas music and decorating my room holiday themed so yay!

-Youth county orchestra auditions. On the 12th, I'm auditioning for this huge orchestra and I'm super excited. I have been working for this for months and I really want to get in. (I'm the youngest person auditioning, yeesh!)

I hope you guys enjoyed, and that your November was as great as mine! If not, December is always a new month, and it's a new start. So take a deep breath and forget about November (sorry November, I still love you) because December time is here :)

What was the highlight of your November? 

Thanks for reading,

Noor

P.S- Me and some other bloggers are hosting a giveaway! If you want to enter, you can find out the information here and enter the giveaway down in the widget:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November Favorites

Hello everyone! It's actually the end of November, woah, that means it's time for my November Favorites!

Note: the pictures are really bad because I had to do them in the early morning because my friend was coming over, sorry!

L'Oreal Nail Polish in 'High Spirits' 

(The lavender one) I really love this color, in fact I'm wearing it right now. I've been loving lavender and light purples (hence my blog color) lately and this color perfectly captures that lavender-like essence.

Zoya Nail Polish in 'Paloma' 

I love colors like these, the warm wintery colors. This is a gorgeous magenta/purple color, I'm totally in love with it. Unfortunately, it shows up way lighter on your nails than it looks in the bottle, but I still love!

Bath and Body Works Body Lotion in 'Snowkissed Sugar' 

I'm sorry. You guys know how obsessed I am with B&BW. Trust me, this won't be the first of my 2015 B&BW winter collection. This smells AMAZING. It doesn't really capture winter for me but still smells ahh. 

Like every other person on the planet, I am a sucker for pretty packaging and this takes the cake. It has glitter and a beautiful design on the front. Plus that font man. 

OGX Sea Mineral Moisture Shampoo

I don't really rave about hair products often but I love this honestly. It's pretty cheap and you would think that it doesn't work well, but it does. My hair has been 10x stronger this month and smells great too. Plus my split ends have become better, which is what the product promises. And to my surprise, the red in my hair has been more vibrant!

EOS Lip Balm in 'Blackberry Nectar'

Your neighbor, your mom, and your dog have all raved about EOS but they are amazing. My lips ALWAYS get chapped and after I got my EOS, they have been so so smooth and nice. Seriously, go pick one up, they're only like 3-4 dollars or something. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Illustrated Edition by JK Rowling and Jim Kay 

ASDFGHHKL. I've been wanting this book for so long and I just got it recently and I'm in love with it! The illustrations are gorgeous and so glossy. Honestly, Jim Kay captures Harry Potter better than the movies did. It was pretty expensive, but I had a Barnes and Nobles gift card guys ;) 

Grace Thomas Girl of the Year 2015 - American Girl Doll

I GOT HER YAY. Anastasia Grace Lynn (that's her full name, that I named her) is my second AG doll and I love her so much. She's so gorgeous and I got a lot of her collection, I'm so happy! Her hair is just ahh, I love her soooooo much <3 xD

the sun decided to go down on me, sorry

Candy Cane Oreos 

okay these are an Oreo ripoff but that's besides the point. They are so delicious and they really taste like candy cane + Oreos. I finished the whole box in like 2 days oops 

LA Devotee by Panic! At The Disco

Me: I love Hallelujah!

Me: I think I love Emperor's New Clothes more..

Me: NOPE LA DEVOTEE IS FAVE. 

I love this song so much. It's so fun and upbeat. I love what Brendon is experimenting with in this album, I'm so excited to see what Panic! has for us next. (I got a lot of Let's Kill Tonight vibes from this song :P)

That was all of my November Favorites! I hope you guys enjoyed. November sure was a hectic month for me, but I'm sad and happy it's over. 

What were some of your favorites from this month?

Thanks for reading,

Noor

p.s - Me and some other bloggers are doing a fun game where we invite all of you to participate! Find out all the rules on Bryleigh's blog!

p.p.s - does anyone in the Phandom want to fangirl with me over PINOF 7 :P? 

Awkward Thanksgiving Moments

Hello everyone! Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers and if you do not celebrate, Happy Thursday :) Everyone does posts on what they are thankful for, and trust me I'm thankful for a lot of things (My friends and family, the blogging community, books, food + water + shelter etc, Fall Out Boy, Phan, Harry Potter) but I wanted to switch it up today. So behold, Awkward Thanksgiving Moments.


When you're that one person that's still piling food on your plate.

Everyone else is done eating and they're all talking and laughing but you're still hungry. KEEP THE MASHED POTATOES COMING MOM.

When there's like fifty million people at the dinner and you know like 2 percent of them.

Basically story of my life. People come up to me and kiss me and I'm like

When there's no one at the dinner party to talk to. 

There's no one there your age that somewhat understands you, and you're sitting there like:

When people have different opinions and start to argue

Someone HAS to bring up who they think should be US President. The Presidential Debate: Thanksgiving Dinner Table Edition  

And then there's me who doesn't know what's going on. 

When a person comes up to you and starts asking you random questions

"What grade are you in now?" "How's school?" "Ooh you've grown so tall and beautiful!" 

Yeah...Thanksgiving can be real awkward. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this and that you can somewhat relate to it xD

I'M ALSO THANKFUL FOR THE FACT THAT I HIT 50,000 WORDS ON NANOWRIMO! WHOOP WHOOP! 

Have a turkey-stuffed day :) 

Thanks for reading,

Noor

Finding Your Aesthetic

Hello everyone! Phew, I'm finally on Thanksgiving holiday, 5 day break woo hoo! That means more time for blogging and writing :D By the time you read this, I could have hit 50k words, so that's exciting!

This is a post that I have wanted to do for the longest time. I'm all about aesthetic, making my room aesthetically pleasing for me, making my blog fit my aesthetic. So today, I'm going to be helping you find your aesthetic and how you can fit it into your everyday life.

The actual definition of aesthetic is 'concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty'. But I've found a lot of people say 'this is my aesthetic' and that is how I use the word, as colors or adjectives that fit your personality.

This is a little picture of what this corner of my room currently looks like. As you can tell, my aesthetic is probably lots of busyness and bright colors, which basically describes my personality. 

Your aesthetic is a reflection of your personality. Think about some words that describe you, or maybe some colors that pop in your mind when you think about those words. Also think about your interests, a person with a love for plants may have a nature aesthetic. 

A joyful and cheery person's aesthetic would be similar to mine, lots of bright colors. But a calm and collected person's aesthetic would be simple, black and whites. 

It's quite simple to figure out your aesthetic once you've listed those words. Another way you can do this is by seeing how your room or other spaces (blog, Instagram feed, locker, bookshelf, etc) look, and what you can get off of that. 

If your space is neat and clean, you would fall into the simple and minimalist category. But if your spaces are messy or busy (like mine) you would fall into the busy and 'crazy' category. 

+

Now you've found out your aesthetic! "But, how do I add my aesthetic into real life?" Good question. 

A great way is by searching up ____ aesthetic or ____ rooms on Pinterest or We Heart It or Instagram. There are some great images there that can fit your aesthetic!

To add some of your aesthetic to your room, you can look at your room at a distance and figure out how you can move things around and what you can add to make your room fit! Keep on the look out at stores and around your house for items that fit!

Also, images are a great way to incorporate your aesthetic into your space. And you can add them in different ways, based on your aesthetic. A person with a busy aesthetic can cover their whole wall with images, like mine. A person with a minimalist aesthetic can add a couple, simple images to their wall. 

Again, I would really suggest searching up your room aesthetic on Pinterest, and possibly adding 'tumblr' before it because people on Tumblr have amazing bedrooms!

I hope you guys enjoyed this different post and that it helped you! I love room decorating and designing and fitting stuff with my aesthetic and I thought some of you might too!

Let me know what your aesthetic is in the comments :)

Thanks for reading,

Noor

UPDATE: I HIT 50K, I OFFICIALLY WON NANOWRIMO AHAHHAHA

Mockingjay Part 2 - The Movie With ALL the Feels

Hello everyone! So. I went and watched Mockingjay Part 2 on Wednesday. And it actually made me cry. The only movie I have ever cried over was Deathly Hallows Part 2, but this one took second place.

Note: The first part of this will be strictly review, I will alert when the spoilers begin..

Movie Title: Mockingjay Part 2

Release Date: November 20, 2015

Director: Francis Lawrence

Description: Realizing the stakes are no longer just for survival, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) teams up with her closest friends, including Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Finnick for the ultimate mission. Together, they leave District 13 to liberate the citizens of war-torn Panem and assassinate President Snow, who's obsessed with destroying Katniss. What lies ahead are mortal traps, dangerous enemies and moral choices that will ultimately determine the future of millions.

-

It originally came out on Friday, but my theater was offering a special two movie feature where they showed MJ Pt 1 and Pt 2! So we went on Wednesday the 18th instead. 

This movie was fantastic, the effects, the acting, everything was perfection. Some of the dialogue was also really beautiful and sometimes funny.

It stayed pretty true to the book, (I am going to admit, I didn't finish the last Mockingjay book. I know gasp.) I was happy with that factor. 

First off, I'd like to say about how much I appreciated the effects. They were very well done and super amazing and left me going 'woah' all the time. 

There was this one scene, I'm not going to spoil anything, but these was this rushing oil that was amazing. It looked so real, and put a lot of action into the scene. 

small spoiler if you haven't seen Part 1 Josh Hutcherson was an amazing actor in this movie. His role as Hijacked Peeta was perfect and he captured the role amazingly. We could see how he was damaged inside but fought himself to find that love for Katniss. That actually made me cry a bit during some of his parts. 

Jennifer Lawrence was flawless in this movie (except for one little scene, but sh). All her outfits were gorgeous and the makeup was really natural but made her glow. She was also really powerful with her speeches and I felt like Katniss was really coming out of her shell and embracing who she was. 

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Gale's part in this movie. He was really strong and important for everything, because without him, Katniss would probably not be alive. 

AND CAN I JUST TALK ABOUT CRESSIDA AND HOW MUCH I LOVE HER. She's so gorgeous and her hair is like ahh. She totally sympathizes with Katniss. She's so much more than just Katniss's manager, she's her friend, and she's a warrior too. 

There was also a lot of comic relief in this movie which made me laugh a lot. Haymitch always brings back the laughter in the Hunger Games and that's one of the main reasons why I love him.

One thing I didn't like was how it was slightly boring. The actual Games brought all the action and fun to the series and this movie was all about war and rebellion which made it slow and boring at times. It was still fantastic, I just wouldn't recommend it to someone who loves action movies. 

Overall, I'd rate this movie 4 stars. Everyone's acting was great, the special effects were phenomenal and it was very moving. It was a bit boring, but if you're able to look past the lack of action in some scenes, this movie is for you. 

SPOILERS. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED MOCKINGJAY PART 2 OR READ THE MOCKINGJAY BOOK

my crappy picture that I took from the theater

all the deaths. oh my. Finnick's death actually made me cry, like I am not even joking. Through the whole mutt scene, I was holding my mouth and crying because I knew what was going to happen next. And when he yelled Katniss after he died oh my god I can't

Hijacked Peeta, that was oh. It made me so sad to see how Katniss would actually point her bow up at Peeta because she felt threatened, that was horrible. And then during the mutt scene when Peeta was saving Katniss, that was cute and I thought that was the end of Hijacked Peeta, thankfully. 

And President Coin's death scene. I was trying to hold back a smile the whole time because I knew what was going to happen. My friend was literally staring at me like I was crazy. When she killed Coin and Snow started laughing, man that was creepy, there was like blood dripping out of his mouth ew ew *shudders*

I didn't cry during Prim's death because I knew it all along and it was so predictable and it wasn't that sad of a death to be honest. And then Katniss beat up Gale about it and that made me so sad because it wasn't his fault, he didn't know and *sobs*

The only part of the movie that was crap was when Katniss was shouting at the cat. That was not good acting at all on Jen's behalf and it was pretty corny to be honest. 

BUT THE EPILOGUE ASDFFGHHN. That was the cutest thing ever, Katniss with the baby and Peeta playing with the kid. The scene was gorgeous and Katniss and her family looked so happy and cute and ahh I loved it. #everlarkisotpandyoucanttellmeotherwise (But Katniss's dress was kind of ugly)

END OF SPOILERS, YOU MAY READ ON

There you have it. The end of an era. The end of the Hunger Games. No. It will live on forever and ever, our legacy as Tributes will continue. *does the three finger symbol*

I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know if you have seen it or are going to see it so we can fangirl together about it later! And please don't spoil anything in the comments for people who haven't seen it, thank you :)

As for NaNoWrimo, I'm doing something crazy today. I'm tackling 50k. Which means I'm going to have to write 9,315 words today. Wish me luck, I will update on Tuesday. 

Never forget the era of The Hunger Games guys, it will always be in our hearts <3

Thanks for reading,

Noor, District 13

We Use Words So Carelessly

Hello everyone! I'm postponing the MJpt2 review until Tuesday because I had a little thought-provoking conversation with my dad today.

Whenever I have bad days, like I had today, they cause me to think about things, things that would normally not even cross my brain.

I was talking with my dad about the book I recommended to him The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (great book, you should totally go read it) and he brought up how Liesel (the main character) brought up the word regret.

regret- sorrow filled with longing, disappointment or loss

Which caused me to think how carelessly we use the word. "I regret to inform you", which one of those would that be? Longing, no, disappointment, not likely, loss, maybe but not really.

Then I brought up sorry. Here's a challenge for you, count how many times you say sorry in a day, the number may surprise you.

We say sorry so much that it's lost meaning. Adding on to that challenge, look back and see how many times you actually, truly, meant that apology.

sorry - feeling distress, especially through sympathy with someone else's misfortune.

How many times do we actually sympathize with that person? You most likely forgot who you even said sorry to, and what you did. And if you didn't, you'll forget in two days time. 

And did that 'sorry' moment cause you any distress? Surely not. Like I said, you'll forget all about that in a couple of days. 

We changed our discussion to emotions. Sadness, happiness. What did that all really mean?

Who knew the true meaning of sorrow, what it was like to actually be sad? I think it's people who have known loss, who have had something near or dear to them gone. I wouldn't have felt true sorrow, yet my mom and dad would have. 

sorrow - a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others.

Similar to sorry, we constantly misuse this word. People will say "Oh, I am so sad!" because of one little thing that happened. Did you feel a 'deep distress'? Did it really hit you? 

What really got me thinking was happiness. What is the true meaning of happiness? When does one feel happy?

happy - feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.

We all set goals in our lives. Small, or big, they're goals we want to achieve. And I think true happiness is when you achieve those goals. You proved yourself that you can pass your own test, you're building up your self esteem.

Readers ask me why I do monthly goals. And that's exactly why. I feel a certain level of happiness when I achieve my monthly goals. But I do not feel sorrow when I do not reach them, I use those goals to build smaller, more achievable goals, and work my way up. 



There you have it. I hope this post was thought provoking, I meant it to be that way. I really want people to think about their words, how they are using them. People will use words without knowing the true meaning of them, and assuming they know it. 

Sorry for all the deep posts, I've just been really thinking about things a lot lately, the way society works, and why it works this way. I hope someone can relate :P

I'll have a DIY up on Sunday, super excited, I think it's something everyone can do :)

Thanks for reading,
Noor

NaNoWrimo Recap #2 - More Tips, Slumps, and Slow Writing

Hello everyone! It's Wednesday, NaNoWrimo Week 2 is over. (Which it was a while ago, oops) I survived the Week 2 Blues and didn't give up. *pats self on back* Today, I'm going to recap on how I did :)

But first.. 50,000 PAGEVIEWS! Thank you all, we're halfway to 100,000, that's INSANE to think about, wow.

Okay, let's recap!

How did I do this week?

Day 8: I wrote 2,009 words and came to 16,126! Achieved the 2,000 word goal :)

Day 9: I wrote 904 words and came to 17,030. This was horrible, I had soccer until 8 PM and managed to spew only 900 words out, which was bad. Note to self: write before soccer.

Day 10: I wrote 2,970 words and came to 20,000 words! *dances* I felt amazing after this, I got out all of those words and yay yay yay!

Day 11: I wrote 2,000 words on the spot and came to 22,000 words. Achieved the 2k word goal once more.

Day 12: I wrote 1,110 words and came to 23,110 words. Crappy day, once more, another soccer day I believe. 

Day 13: I wrote 1,890 words and came to 25,000 words. I didn't hit 2k quite, but I did MAKE HALFWAY. TWO DAYS EARLY. *dances and throws confetti*

Day 14: I wrote 1,004 words and came to 26,004. I know, I'm so bad. I had a sleepover that night though, so cut me some slack, maybe?

Day 15: I wrote 4,000 WORDS and came to 30,000. WOW, I REALLY CAUGHT UP. *pats self on back* This was amazing for me, and I am really proud of myself for this.

How's my novel coming along?

Ugh, remember when I said that I survived the Week 2 Blues? I said survived, but that doesn't mean I didn't go through it. 

My plot went crazy, I didn't know where it went. Too much happened, I needed to tone it down, it was turning into When D Strikes, not making sense at all.

On Saturday, I introduced a new character, Levi, and I LOVE HIM. He might be the one I kill off, but I have no clue yet. I might get my reader to love him and then I'll

not mine :)

My 3 old main characters are becoming dull, I need to give them some life. Someone needs to be kidnapped, wait already did that. Death? No, not yet. Let's see what I come up with ;)

What problems have I encountered?

Oh dear. Character development. Like I said before, my characters are becoming dull and I'm horrible at introducing characters. It's bad. Like really bad. 

Getting distracted. If my phone is in the same room as me, I will only produce 100 words in 15 minutes, I get distracted super easily. I usually turn off the internet on my computer so I can't access email or anything.

Mondays and Thursdays. I have soccer until 8 both of those days and it's extremely difficult for me to even get out 1000 words. I'll have to try to figure out a way around that.

What are my goals for this week of NaNo?

#1- Hit 40,000 words. I'm a bit behind because of Monday, but I'm going to start writing soon after this. 

#2- Just write. Sometimes I look back and I get into a writing slump because I hate what I've written. I need to learn to just write, write, write. 

That's really all the goals that I have, my goals this week are the same as last week.

What are some tips for my fellow Wrimos?

1) Cover up your word count. This is huge for me because I find myself looking at my word count a lot which slows me down. I cover it up with a small piece of paper or something, or just hide it period, and that helps me a lot. 

2) Look at the forums for prompts. This is something that has helped me a lot. I find a nice prompt and write like 900 words with it, which is a lot for me. I also love Word Crawls, they're super fun and really motivate me to write. I don't know if the forums are available after NaNo, but if you want to write a lot, do a word crawl. 

3) Write in sections. I made the mistake of trying to write all at once and I didn't feel motivated. Now I write in 5/10/15/20 sprints, and take a break during each one. Word crawls are helpful because they enforce this as well. 

That's my week recap! The week went fairly well, I wrote a lot on Sunday, which again, very proud. I used the fragment method, every other hour I would write 1k words, and it worked! I advise that if you have a lot of time on your hands!

Hope you enjoyed, and good luck to my fellow Wrimos, keep up the work, even if you're a bit behind!

I'm going to watch Mockingjay Part 2 today!! I'll do a movie review on Friday, because I'm so so excited! Wait until Friday and you can hear all about it ;) (No spoilers, promise)

Thanks for reading,

Noor

a strong word

 

what a strong word

h a t r e d

we use it to describe things we dislike

we use it like it's something simple

hating something is normal

we all hate something or someone

 

our world is built on hatred

society can be defined in one word

h a t r e d

greed, envy, wrath

all based off of hatred

 

people will do horrible things because of

h a t r e d

hatred for a person because they're different

or because they have done something odd

 

we can hate

it's human nature

there will never be a time when someone doesn't hate

humans were created that way

it may be a bad thing

but hatred builds us, creates us in good ways and bad

 

hatred is part of the natural flow of life

we love and hate

and that's okay

 

but sometimes hatred goes too far

and people will hurt others

that's a deep hatred

that breaks the flow

 

and divides our nation

that kills our humanity

 

+

 

This wasn't meant to be sappy, or beautiful. It was meant to make a point, it was meant to show how hatred is a natural thing, but we shouldn't push it.

 

I think many of you may have realized that this was based off the attacks on Paris recently and also based off of ISIS.

 

The last little stanza there was based off of something from the Quran, the holy book of Islam. It states that if you kill one innocent person, you destroy the nation.

 

On a brighter note, I got 50,000 pageviews! Thank you all, that's so amazing! Hopefully I can reach another 50,000 something this month ;)

 

Also, Rukiya is hosting a trivia game thing, which you should so check out, because it's going to be loads of fun!

 

Remember, it's human nature to hate things, so don't feel bad about it. But also, don't use hate carelessly, it's a strong word that's meant for something you really dislike.

 

Thanks for reading,

Noor





Guest Post: Summer Book Favorites

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday, it's officially the weekend, phew! Today, I have a long awaited guest post from Amanda Brown from South Kalaki Girl, an amazing blog and magazine for girls! She writes it with her sister, Rachel!

Amanda is going to be sharing with us her Summer Book Favorites! (do you see how long it's been since I meant to post this) Take it away Amanda!

Hey guys!  My name is Amanda Brown.  I’m a 16-year-old writer and graphic designer in charge of skgfun.com, which is a blog and magazine written by girls, for girls.  I’d love to see you guys on there and meet you!  

So today I’d like to share with you guys some of my favorite summer reads.  

Unfortunately, over the past school year I had stopped reading.  I just found I was too busy and didn’t have time to sit down and read.  But during the summer, I picked up a book and remembered just how truly magical the reading experience is.

Here are some books I discovered:

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Plot: Juli Baker has been obsessed with her neighbor, Bryce Loski, since he moved in a few summers ago.  But after he refuses to help her save her beloved sycamore tree and acts like an altogether jerk to her, she realizes that she’s liked him for all the wrong reasons.  The trouble is, just as she gets over him, Bryce discovers that there’s more to Juli Baker than he had thought and finds himself falling in love with her.

Notes: Some curse words, but otherwise clean.  There’s also a movie version of this, so make sure to watch it after you read the book!

Perfect for: Any age girl who wants a short, but deep, read.

Rating: 5/5 stars

The Madman’s Daughter Series by Megan Shephard

Plot: The first book, The Madman’s Daughter, is based off of the classic entitled The Lost Island of Dr. Moreau.  It was a definite page-turner, and I literally couldn’t put it down.  I read the whole book in one afternoon.  The second book is based on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the third book is based on Frankenstein.  Throughout the whole series, I was holding my breath and riveted.  

Notes: Some curse words and older content.  May need to skip some scenes.

Perfect for: Older teenage girls who love romance mixed in with horror and sci-fi.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Enwined by Heather Dixon

Plot: Based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, this tale take you for a spin.  The ending is especially entrancing, with lives on the line and dangerous magic behind every turn.  

Notes: Absolutely one hundred percent clean.

Perfect for: Any age girl who loves romance and magic.

Rating: 6/5 stars

Thanks for reading, and make sure to check out these books!  Let me know in the comments below if you’ve read any of these and, if not, which ones you want to try.

Thanks to Noor for letting me post on her blog!

Amanda

Thank you Amanda, this was fantastic! I actually have never read any of these books, but they're definitely going on my TBR!

I hope you guys enjoyed, and don't forget to check out Amanda's blog and take a look at some of her amazing posts :)

Thanks for reading,
Noor

(also, please pray for Paris guys. I didn't get to do a post on it because this was scheduled but my thoughts are with the families of the victims. my aunt and cousin were there and my cousin's leg is very severely hurt. Stay strong everyone <3)

Q and A

Hello everyone! Yesterday, I asked you guys to ask me some questions for a Q and A! I decided to answer them all, as I think I have enough to answer them all. I did take some out that I didn't know how to answer, sorry! Let's a go!

What is one book world you wish you could live in?

Honestly, Harry Potter. I bet you all saw this coming but come on, who wouldn't want to live in the HP world, it's the best. I would love to go to Hogwarts, and have my kids grow up in that magical world. Hopefully I wouldn't be a squib, that would SUCK. 

Who is your favorite fictional character?

Gosh, probably Isabelle Lightwood, Hermione Granger or Cassie from the 5th Wave. They are all fabulous heroines, they're strong, funny, and sassy. I love them so much and aspire to be like them.

What inspired you to start blogging?

I guess nothing really inspired me, I just needed an escape sort of, somewhere to go and tell everyone my thoughts and all my ideas, and blogging did that for me. No one exactly inspired me, I was really all alone until I found Kids Blog Club

Who was the first ever blogger you found?

Lexie from WLL. I found her in the comments section of KBC, and I commented on her blog. We emailed back and forth, and she eventually became my friend!

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Hmm, probably chocolate chip cookie dough. It's a really nice flavor with all the different aspects to it. I really analyze my ice creams xD

Favorite kind of cake?

THAT LIKE TRIPLE CHOCOLATE STUFF MMMM MAN

Any tips for writing a blog post?

I really have just one main one, keep it interesting. After writing, or before writing, ask yourself if you would find it interesting and if others would. If the answer to either of these questions is no, then I wouldn't publish it.

If you could only listen to one FOB song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

OH GOSH WHY. grr probably the Carpal Tunnel of Love...

What's your biggest fear?

Fall Out Boy breaking up. No, but seriously. It's really watching all my loved ones die but that other one's pretty scary too. 

Do you prefer Pete Wentz with black hair or blond hair?

Great question! Depends on the picture. I love his black hair, it really ups the emo but in some pictures he looks like a weird wrestler, idk don't ask. And I'm eh about the blond but he can look really cute with his blond hair sometimes. 

What would you like to do when you're older?

Hmm, you know, I'm not so sure. At the moment, I'd love to be in a band, but I know that's not realistic. I think maybe a published author, again not realistic, but more realistic than the band thing.

What's your favorite thing about blogging?

Sharing my brain. Literally, I wish I had named my blog that because that's what I do here. I share everything that's in my head on this blog, and I love doing that. 

In the past year, have you heard songs that have changed your outlook on life?

Honestly, yes. What A Catch Donnie by Fall Out Boy is such a deep song and whenever I listen to it, I cry. It's very emotional and it makes me think so many deep thoughts on life that I'd never thought I'd have. It's also a very gorgeous song, and the lyrics are amazing. 

Besides Paramore and FOB, what are some other musicians you listen to?

Oh wow a lot. Um.. All Time Low, Pentatonix, Selena Gomez, Muse, My Chemical Romance, PANIC! AT THE FREAKIN DISCO

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Japan. Really, it's such a cool place and it's even better that Phan went there. Or maybe Pete Wentz's home to become his child because please.

What is a quote that you live by?

"I live my life one YOLO at a time. And I like to think everything is part of that YOLO." -Andy Hurley

How do you find inspiration for your blog posts?

The world. Everything around me, from what my teachers say at school to the news. I also gather inspiration from other bloggers and often from Pinterest. I don't copy ideas directly of course, but I do gain some inspiration from them.

If you could be a song what song would you be?

I Don't Care by FOB. or the Emperor's New Clothes by Panic! because I'm a demon. Jk but seriously,

Flats or heels?

Flats, heels hurt my feet man. Plus flats can kind of be styled with everything.

Who is your hero?

ALL OF FOB, because they saved me when times got rough. And Phan, and all the Youtubers I watch. Also Emma Watson because she inspires me to keep going every day.

Do you have any pets?

Sadly no, but I do have loads of pets on Neko Atsume XD (Get the app, it's really freakin cute)

How did you make your blog design/header/learn coding?

A lot of people asked this in so many different ways so I combined them xD I learned coding from Google, I basically searched up a bunch of things that I saw on other people's blogs and bam, I got the code for that! I did my header via Picmonkey, it's super easy, if you know how. 

Phew, those were all the questions! Sorry for the long post!

If you have any other questions that weren't answered, let me know, and I'll answer them!

Thanks for reading,

Noor

NaNoWrimo Recap #1 - Tips, Goals, and Problems

Hello everyone! I really should have done this post on Sunday but I sort of forgot..oops. Anyway, the first week of NaNoWrimo is over and I survived and kept up my wordcount. I've heard the second week is worse (I've already been experiencing that, I wrote only 900 words yesterday :( )

Today, I'm going to be recapping my NaNo experience for the first week! I'll also be talking about some goals I have, problems I've encountered and some general tips I have for you all! Let's get into it :)

How am I doing so far?

So far so good! My goal per day is 2,000 words and I did that for almost everyday except for Friday when I only did 1,300 (grr..) 

My novel is coming along, in that first week it was slow and I found myself questioning what I was writing, a lot. I also found myself comparing myself to other writer's speeds. People were at 40,000 words when I was celebrating because I'd reached 10,000 words. 

I do love my characters and am definitely attached to them. I haven't decided whether I'm going to kill any of them off. Yet. 

I INCLUDED A DRAGON. That was like my favorite part to write, I'm very descriptive when it comes to characters and especially DRAGONS. She's amazing, and she can talk.

What are some problems that I've come across?

Questioning myself. I would stop and edit every 5 minutes because I hated the sentence I'd just written or I despised that character's name. It was horrible and I would barely get 200 words in 15 minutes. 

Again, comparing myself to other writers. I read snippets of what other people had written and I was blown away. I looked back at my novel and it made me sad because I thought I wasn't good enough for this, which really lowered my spirits. 

Not pushing myself hard enough or pushing myself too hard. Like I said, one day I only managed to spew out 1,300 words and that's because I was being too easy on myself. During NaNo, and really any time during life, you have to push yourself, otherwise you're not going to get anywhere. But then the next day, I pushed myself too hard. I was pooped by the end and my brain was fried. And, what I had just written was horrible. So I definitely learned from that. 

What are my goals for this week of NaNo?

The obvious is to write 2,000 words per day (or more ;) ) and hit 28,000 words by the end of the week. Then I'll be halfway, whoop whoop! 

Also to participate in every Virtual Write In. If you don't know what those are, they're livestreams that NaNo hosts with prompts and word sprints to help you boost your word count! They're an hour long, sometimes they go a bit over. I find them super helpful and I wrote 3,000 words in the last one! I think the next one is tomorrow so I'm definitely going to do that!

What are some tips that I have for my fellow Wrimos?

1) Block the inner editor by doing the following. Look down at your keyboard while typing, make your font size super small, take off your backspace key. 

2) Keep a daily goal. It may be good to write 4k one day and just 2k another but it's also good, and better, to have a goal. Again, with the pushing yourself day, you can push yourself to get that goal. But if you're feeling inspired, you can just ignore that and write write write!

3) Don't write less than your goal and then think you can make up for it the next day. I feel so hypocritical because I did this, yesterday. Just really push yourself to hit that 1k, or 5k, or whatever. It's really good and does help to build discipline. Don't be lazy, just do it! *insert Shia LaBeouf gif here*

4) Don't feel bad if you don't hit 50k. Especially if you're a first timer. Look at it this way, you probably have a lot going on, and it's okay! It's also okay if you're a slow writer, some people are just slower than others! Make a new goal, maybe 30k or 40k, something you know you can reach. Aim for 50k next year, train yourself to write faster! Me on the other hand, I'm a fast writer and an anti-social person so I have 0 excuses. 

I hope you guys enjoyed that! In my poll, a lot of you voted for writing tips so I'll definitely post more of them! 

For all my fellow Wrimos, keep up the work and don't get discouraged! I'm always here if you need a helper or a writing buddy :)

What are your best writing tips? Would you like to see more writing stuff on the blog? 

Thanks for reading,

Noor

p.s- vote in my poll! It will really help me out and you guys will get to see more of what you want :)

p.p.s- should I do a room tour? I just cleaned my room and thought it would be fun :)