I only need 158 more sales to hit my goal for the year. I am so thankful that this has been the best year of my business and with 87 days left, I really think I could hit it!

BOOK SLEEVES/E-READER SLEEVES:

If you know a book lover and can never think of the perfect gift for them, I have just the thing for you! Book sleeve provide an extra layer of protection when carrying around your beloved books, especially in your bags.

CUSTOM 3D FLORAL SHADOW BOXES:

If you have no idea what to get your family member who has everything, my shadow boxes are the perfect gift. You are able to customize your boxes with decals and which color you choose. These are great for baby announcements, inspiring quotes, mother’s/father’s quotes, and more!

Bend Me Not Creations by BendMeNot on Etsy

New Year’s list

So I started to work at McDonalds in mid august and I’m still trying to fit my habits on this new routine. But I’m doing great.

1Be fluent in spanish

Díos mío, yo no hice cosa alguna.

2 Eat 2 new foods and 5 days of no eating meat

2 day no meat

Pickles

(I was busy with the end of the semester on college and working)

3Work with design

Well, I’m doing great on college and trying to study more than the minimum required.

5Read 10 books and get used to read just after going to bed:

I’ve been reading The Power of Habit when I’m waiting for and on the bus, I already read half of the book, it’s amazing and non-fiction.

Also I read 1 chapter of Surrealism (by Fiona Bradley), it’s about the art movement before going to sleep.

6Be more active in Esperanto-movado and study about it:

Do mi diris al BEJO, ke mi estis tre okupita inter la fino de julio kaj eko de auxgusto, do mi ne povis labori kiel mi kutime. Sed mi ankoraux laboris kiel eble plej multe dum la reta evento de BEJO.

(mia dio, mi ne skribis aux parolis esperante en la lastaj semajnoj)

7 Exercising everyweek (and run a bit):

I did, but I don’t want to run anymore, because when I do that, my knees hurt lol

8 Watch 4 movies or series for month and put the less famous on doesthedogdie. com: at least 1 doc or biographic movie.

1 Gone Girl (USA, 2014)

2 John Was Trying to Contact Aliens (USA, 2020)

3 Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art (USA, 2020)

4 Capture Kill Release (USA, 2016)

5 M.O.M. Mothers of Monsters (USA, 2020)

6 Architecture of Doom (Sweden, 1989)

7 Girls (USA, 2012-2017)

10 Write down 4 dreams every month.

I did.

11 Draw 6 dreams this year.

I drew 2!!

One was about a big pink wave which sink a whole island.

The other was a weird figure that I saw somewhere on the dream, it was probably inspired by a pineapple.

12 Sketch, draw/paint on paper AND digital every month:

I drew and paint a lot, and made some digital pieces to!

13 Draw on notebook almost everyday:

I totally did this time! And I’ve been drawing different stuff and challenging myself.

14Finish 3 arts for month:

I did!!

15Learn anatomy and draw romantic couples:

I did a bit.

16 Post a chapter of fiction every month:

I didn’t.

17Start posting fiction in Esperanto (please):

Evidente mi ne faris tion, mi ecx ne verkis ion.

18 Take care of myself

I did, I’ve been doing great and feeling happy.

19Be more sociable AND better at talking, in general:

It’s a totally plot twist in my life that I, a person with social anxiety, am praised by manager, others attendents and a client (to my manager) that I’m good and very sympathetic when interacting with the clients at McDonalds.

12,5/19 = 66%

I think I’m doing great, but let’s analyze the month.

I’m not studying spanish as I would like. I need to speak and write. I want to use the knowledge from the book The Power of Habit to change this. I guess I will search some group chat on discord about series or movies that I like, so when I feel like discussing with someone about, I will have this spanish group.

I also need to talk more with esperantists. Last month I notice that I used to work for esperanto way more than I used to USE IT, because I’m not very social……… I need to make discord an habit for me.

I’m an extra slow reading, but I’m reading a lot when I go to work or come back home, I totally should use these waiting moments to continue to read. But I still want to also read on bed before sleeping, because it means I won’t stare the light from screens just before sleeping.

I’ve been drawing a lot, but not as much anatomy as I would like and I didn’t drew any group of people interacting with each other.

So I just need to 1 make discord an habit, 2 draw full bodies and 3 people interacting and 4 read before sleeping. I’ll try to focus on this on september.

[Don’t know what I’m talking about? EXPLANATION LINK HERE]

One of my (many) 2021 goals was to participate in the Beat the Backlist 2021 challenge, because I’m a simple person: I see book bingos, I want in. I chose the 24-square bingo to start off easy, and I finished it on 22nd July, so I of course went right in to the full 52-square bingo with bonus prompts included… After a bit of struggling, I finished it yesterday! Challenge complete, yay!

Here’s the completed bingo card, and under the cut you can find the list of what I read:

* Means the book doesn’t have an English translation

If a translator isn’t named, it’s because I read the book in the original language regardless of how it appears here!

• More than one author:Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 - Edited by Jennifer Haupt –> 2.5/5
• Dragons OR lizards: Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #5) - Ursula K. Le Guin –> 3/5
• It’s on a ship!: Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II - Liza Mundy –>4/5
• Purple cover: Strange Planet (Strange Planet #1) - Nathan W. Pyle –>3.5/5
• Set in a major city:Brexit Romance - Clémentine Beauvais –>3/5
  
• Book you forgot you had: Loki: Where Mischief Lies - Mackenzi Lee –>3.5/5
  
• Caused a major book hangover: Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton –>2.5/5
  
• Multiple points of view: Tyll - Daniel Kehlmann (Transl. Isabel García Adánez) –>3.5/5
  
• Book you’re giving another chance: Scottish Myths & Legends - Rosemary Gray –>3.5/5
• Quest to find lost/hidden object: 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff (Transl. Javier Calzada) –>3.5/5
• Chapter title page has art: Jane Austen at Home - Lucy Worsley –>4.5/5
• Kept you up late reading: The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People - Rachel Wilkerson Miller –>3.5/5
  
• Picked by a friend/trusted reviewer: The Switch - Beth O'Leary –>4.5/5
  
• Non-human character: The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa (Transl. Philip Gabriel) –>5/5
• First line is less than 10 words: Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) - Evie Dunmore –> 3/5
  
• Banned book:The Kiss of the Spider Woman - Manuel Puig –>2.5/5
• Cover features your favourite colour prominently: Kiki’s Delivery Service (Kiki’s Delivery Service #1) - Eiko Kadono (Trans. Rumi Sato) –> 3/5
  
• All about music: Player (Red Lipstick Coalition #2) - Staci Hart –>3/5
• Character lets out a breath they didn’t realize they were holding: How to Fail at Flirting - Denise Williams –> 3.5/5
  
• Genre you never/rarely pick up: Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi –>5/5
  
• Standalone:Evelina - Frances Burney –>3/5
  
• Lost royalty: The Tyrant’s Tomb (The Trials of Apollo #4) - Rick Riordan –>3.5/5
• Cover with your country’s flag colours: Tres sombreros de copa - Miguel Mihura –> 2.5/5 *
• Written in letters or diary entries: Lady Susan - Jane Austen –>4/5
• Book centered around politics: Les Enchantements d’Ambremer (Le Paris des Merveilles #1) - Pierre Pevel –> 2.5/5 *
• Features a carnival or a circus: Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (Johannes Cabal #1) - Jonathan L. Howard –> 3/5
• Snake on the cover: The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo #5) - Rick Riordan –>3.5/5
• On the Indie Bestseller list in 2020 or earlier: Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other - Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish with Charlotte Reather →3.5/5
  
• Historical with a twist: The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) - Roshani Chokshi –> 3.5/5
• Character has a dream scene: The Paris Secret - Karen Swan –>2/5
• Set in autumn: The Goddess Test (The Goddess Test #1) - Aimee Carter –>2.5/5
• Based on non-Greek/Roman mythology: The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide (The Kane Chronicles Extra) - Rick Riordan –> 2.5/5
• Non-binary protagonist: Unmasked by the Marquess (Regency Impostors #1) - Cat Sebastian –>3.5/5
  
• A book with illustrations: Camp Half-Blood Confidential (The Trials of Apollo #2.5) - Rick Riordan –> 3.5/5
• WTF plot twist:Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) - Seanan McGuire –> 4/5[Review]
• Second book in a duology:This Coven Won’t Break (This Witches Don’t Burn #2) - Isabel Sterling –> 3.5/5
  
• Non-fairytale re-telling: The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood –>4/5
•  From your 2020 backlist TBR: Diary of a Newlywed Poet - Juan Ramón Jiménez –>2.5/5
• Book where the woods/forest are important: A Midsummer Night’s Dream - William Shakespeare –> 3/5
• Black and white: So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo –>5/5
  
• Novella:The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (The Dead Djinn Universe #0.7) - P. Djèlí Clark –>3/5
• Person on the cover: The Real Deal - Lauren Blakely –> 2/5
  
• Anthology:Four Fumbling Fairy Tales - Lia London –>3/5
  
• Has a map: Making a Tinderbox (The Tinderbox Takes #1) - Emma Sterner-Radley –>2/5
  
• Book about bones OR “bone” in the title: Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) - Seanan McGuire –>4/5
• Good book, bad cover:La tesis de Nancy (Nancy #1) - Ramón J. Sender –> 3.5/5*
• Brings out the geek in you:El infinito en un junco - Irene Vallejo –> 5/5 *
• Bought it for the cover:Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1) - Renée Ahdieh –> 3/5

BONUS PROMPTS:

• Book written in verse: Love that Dog (Jack #1) - Sharon Creech –>3/5
• Includes a 2nd person POV: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino (Transl. Esther Benítez) - –>2.5/5
• Author has a book releasing in 2021: Night and Silence (October Daye #12) - Seanan McGuire –>3/5
• Mentions a pineapple: Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata (Transl. Marina Bornas) –>3/5

Not bad, huh? 

I didn’t write reviews, but I’m more than happy to talk about any of these books if you’re curious so don’t hesitate to reach out!

Did you participate in this challenge too? How did it go?

Hey everyone!

Remember when we were young and full of hope for the new year, and we made those lofty lists of goals…? Yeah, me too. My goals are not going great to be quite honest and I’ve mostly given up by now, but at least one of them is tackled! I finished my 21 in 2021 list yesterday, and here’s how it went!

1. Loki: Where Mischief Lies - Mackenzi Lee –> 3.5/5(February)
   
2. The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) - Roshani Chokshi –> 3.5/5(July)
3. Diary of a Newlywed Poet - Juan Ramón Jiménez –> 2.5/5(February)
4. Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1) - Renee Ahdieh –> 3/5(August)
5. Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II - Liza Mundy –> 4/5(November)
6. In Our Time - Ernest Hemingway –> 1/5(April)
7. Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) - Cassandra Clare
8. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende –> 3.5/5(March)
9. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier –> 3/5(December)
10. A Midsummer Night’s Dream - William Shakespeare –> 3/5(May)
11. The Valiant (The Valiant #1) - Lesley Livingston –> 3/5(November)
12. Jane Austen at Home - Lucy Worsley –> 4.5/5(July)
13. The Tyrant’s Tomb (The Trials of Apollo #4) - Rick Riordan –> 3.5/5(August)
14. The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo #5) - Rick Riordan –> 3.5/5(September)
15. Making a Tinderbox (The Tinderbox Tales #1) - Emma Sterner-Radley –> 2/5(March)
16. Night and Silence (October Daye #12) - Seanan McGuire –> 3/5(April)
17. Ghosts of the Shadow Market - Cassandra Clare
18. El infinito en un junco. La invención de los libros en el mundo antiguo - Irene Vallejo –> 5/5(April)
19. The Great Passage - Shion Miura –> 2/5 (March)
20. Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton –> 2.5/5(February)
21. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari –>4/5(September)

Cassandra Clare’s are crossed off because I decided around October or so to finally be honest with myself and admit that I wasn’t going to read any more Shadowhunter books. I didn’t technically read them, but still: crossed off the list, two less books!

How are your own goals going?

[Don’t know what I’m talking about? EXPLANATION LINK HERE]

One of my (many) 2021 goals was to participate in the Beat the Backlist 2021 challenge, because I’m a simple person: I see book bingos, I want in. I chose the 24-square bingo to start off easy, and I’ve already finished it! Under the cut you can see my complete bingo card and the list of books I’ve read.

And if you thought this was the end of it, you thought WRONG: I downloaded the 52-square bingo right this morning and tried to complete the maximum numbers of prompts with what I’ve read so far this year, because I might as well do things the right way. Right now the full challenge is 65% done, according to my StoryGraph progress bar, so I’m right on schedule to finish it! Yay!

* Means the book doesn’t have an English translation

If a translator isn’t named, it’s because I read the book in the original language regardless of how it appears here!

• WTF plot twist: Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) - Seanan McGuire –> 4/5[Review]
• Kept you up late reading: The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People - Rachel Wilkerson Miller –> 3.5/5
• Set in a major city: Brexit romance - Clémentine Beauvais –> 3/5
• A book with illustrations: Camp Half-Blood Confidential (The Trials of Apollo #2.5) - Rick Riordan –>3.5/5
• First line is less than 10 words: Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) - Evie Dunmore –> 3/5
• Good book, bad cover: La tesis de Nancy (Nancy #1) - Ramón J. Sender * –> 3.5/5
• Second book in a duology: This Coven Won’t Break (This Witches Don’t Burn #2) - Isabel Sterling –> 3.5/5
• Multiple points of view: Tyll - Daniel Kehlmann (Trans. Isabel García Adánez) –> 3.5/5
• Standalone: Evelina - Frances Burney –> 3/5
• Genre you never/rarely read: Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi –> 5/5
• Picked by a friend/trusted reviewer: The Switch - Beth O'Leary –> 4.5/5
• Cover features your favourite colour prominently: Kiki’s Delivery Service (Kiki’s Delivery Service #1) - Eiko Kadono (Trans. Rumi Sato) –> 3/5
• Character lets out a breath they didn’t realize they were holding: How to Fail at Flirting - Denise Williams –> 3.5/5
• Black and white: So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo –> 5/5
• From your 2020 backlist TBR: Diary of a Newlywed Poet - Juan Ramón Jiménez –> 2.5/5
• Book you forgot you had: Loki: Where Mischief Lies - Mackenzi Lee –> 3.5/5
• Caused a major book hangover: Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton –> 2.5/5
• Person on the cover: The Real Deal - Lauren Blakely –> 2/5
• Has a map: Making a Tinderbox (The Tinderbox Takes #1) - Emma Sterner-Radley –> 2/5
• Anthology: Four Fumbling Fairy Tales - Lia London –> 3/5
• More than one author: Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 - Ed. Jennifer Haupt –> 2.5/5
• On the Indie Bestseller list in 2020 or earlier:Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other - Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish with Charlotte Reather → 3.5/5
• Banned book: The Kiss of the Spider Woman - Manuel Puig –> 2.5/5
• Non-binary protagonist: Unmasked by the Marquess (Regency Impostors #1) - Cat Sebastian –> 3.5/5

I didn’t write reviews, but I’m more than happy to talk about any of these books if you’re curious so don’t hesitate to reach out!

How are your challenges going?

Small goals I’m going to achieve by the end of this year:

1) waking up at 6 am permanently

2) consistent workouts

3) keep my grades high

4) social outings at least twice a week (given COVID allows it)

5) continue my hobbies of horse riding and reading!

What are yours?

The 1st of January;

The New Year is here and Mighty,

The old one just wants to go.

It limps and drags its roots out

To make space for the other to grow.

I limp along with it,

I am entirely made of pain.

I hope for a brief respite,

As the year begins to wane.

Some were not so lucky,

And don’t have chance to rest,

They don’t have to time to hope for More,

Or believe it’s for the Best.

As the New Year digs its roots in,

And bravely sticks out a stem,

I hope for better, not for me,

But the unlucky, the broken, 

For them.

May the Year be Long and Happy,

May the World try to be Good.

May this be the Year it all changes,

Because this is the Year that it Could.