Bri’s Favorite Holiday Things

Happy Holidays everyone! I love the holiday season, but I haven’t actually had the time to read many holiday-themed books this year. So here is a list of a few of my favorite holiday books, movies, video game events, and snacks!

Favorite All-Time Christmas Book

This book is about two young orphans who work in a workhouse in London, and who escape to the streets after a fever sickens many of the girls. They loved a doll that was in the window of a nearby shop for months as they worked, and they soon find a doll that looks similar on the streets where they now live.

I recieved this book many years ago for Christmas, and I loved it when I read it. I can’t remember too much about it, but I am planning on rereading it soon and giving it a full review on here, hopefully before Christmas this year.

Favorite Recent Christmas Book

I don’t read a lot of Christmas books, and when I do read Christmas books, I rarely read Christmas romance novels. I find that they tend to be simply romance books with a tree or two, and then they call it a Christmas story. This is the second book in a series about two college professors falling for one another, and it revolves around the two and their relationships with their family. This was what truly made it a Christmas book for me, the focus on family and how that tied in with their overall relationship. If you would like to read my full review of this novel, please click here.

Favorite All-Time Christmas Movie

Alright so I cheated a little bit here. My favorite Christmas “movie” is actually a ballet called The Nutcracker. Technically it has been made into a film several times or the actual ballets have been recorded and distributed as a film, so it counts to me! I personally used to take ballet lessons in elementary school and I performed in the Nutcracker at 8 years old as a soldier, so the Nutcracker will always put me in the Christmas spirit. The Nutcracker, for those who don’t know, is a ballet about a young girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker as a Christmas gift from her godfather. At night, when Clara goes to check on her new gift, she is swept away to a magical land full of evil mice, soldiers, and a handsome prince.

Favorite Recent Christmas Movie

I’m not that big on Hallmark movies. I find them to be pretty boring and repetitive personally. But I don’t have a problem sitting down and watching them with my family when the Christmas season comes around. This Thanksgiving, we ended up watching this movie together, and I really enjoyed it. It is about a woman named Allie who is fired from her job as a maid in a hotel in NYC and is hired to be a governess for a princess in Europe. She takes the job because she needs to send money to her sister and brother who are still in school / looking for work, but when she gets there, she thinks that she is definitely the wrong fit for the job. Even though this movie was just as cheesy as other Hallmark films, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Favorite All-Time Holiday Game Event

I loved Build A Bear Ville as a kid, and this is still probably my favorite Holiday Themed video game event of all time. I still remember waiting on Thanksgiving for Bearville to drop the holiday update so that I could get on with my little sister and we could skate our characters around the Ice Skating Rink while watching Hal and Holly movie that the company had released. I would also spend hours in the Mrs’ Claus cafe buying all the Christmas themed food items that I would sip on all year until the next Christmas so that I would never run out. This game, albeit simple, was probably one of my favorite games of all time because of all the fun childhood memories.

Favorite Recent Holiday Game Event

Maplestory 2 is such a cute MMO that I love to play, and their new Kritias expansion is a perfect mixture of holiday cheer with a serious game expansion. This expansion has added a whole new map to the game and increased the level cap from 70 to 99, but it has also added an area called Happy Kritias that is completely decked out for the holidays. I wish that there was a cool mount like last year, but I don’t know if that will be available to unlock yet. I am definitely going to be spending a lot of time in Maplestory 2 in between streaming and finishing Darksiders 3. Follow me on Twitch to catch my streams!

Favorite Recent Holiday Snack

I love Aldi, I love minty chocolate things, and I love pretzels. This perfect mix of sweet, salty, chocolatey, and minty, I just can’t stop eating them. Perfect movie snack!

I hope you all are having a good week, let me know in the comments what some of your favorite holiday things are. Thanks for reading!

Heavy — Grace and Lavender Blog

One of my old friends has just started an inspirational/Christian blog, you should check her out! This post really spoke to me.

By: Abigail Summers There is a weight on my chest. It’s the kind of heavy that makes your stomach hurt, causes your shoulders to ache, and your knees to buckle. There’s a liar in my ear, telling me that I don’t deserve anything less than what is already more than I can handle It is […]

via Heavy — Grace and Lavender Blog

TBR Thursday

Taking a break from normally scheduled programming, I’m going to let you guys know what I plan to read next! I haven’t finished or really started any of these books yet, so they will hopefully be reviewed over the next few weeks. They aren’t in any particular order, they are just some books that I plan to read.  Thanks for reading!

Reflections on 2018 + 2019 Goals & Happy Blogiversary!

Exactly two years ago today, I started this blog. It was originally named Bri’s Blog 2017, but then I realized that having a specific year in my blog’s name isn’t the best idea, and changed it to Bri’s Book Nook. My blog has grown so much over the past year, in ways that I never thought possible. I also got a beautiful art overhaul, so I don’t have to worry about creating my own headers for posts anymore! I finally feel as if I have my own site identity, and I love that.

First, let’s talk about my goals for 2018 and see which ones I achieved, and which ones I didn’t.

Read 200 books!

I read 303 books this year, so I definitely surpassed this goal by a long shot!

Get up to 1000 comments!

I’ve received exactly 606 comments this year, so I didn’t meet this goal, but I’m also not upset about that. I’ve met quite a few awesome people on this site, and that’s what really matters to me. Quality over quantity 🙂

Either start streaming games on twitch, start a booktube channel, or create an Etsy account for knitting and crocheting. Either way, make money online doing something I like.

I didn’t do this because I never moved out of my parent’s house and commute to college instead of dorming. If I dormed, I might have tried to stream or make videos, but here I decided not to. Maybe in a few years, I will return to this!

Have at least one physical copy of an ARC sent to me by an author.

I had many, many physical ARCs sent to me this year, and it’s hard to remember a time where I was hoping so much to receive one! Now, I just have to figure out how to read all of them quickly so I can start to properly organize my shelf.

Start college off well!

Even though I’m not attending the colleges that I dreamed of, I am attending a good college, and I love my classmates. I am going to be having a lot of fun these next 4 years, in between classes of course, and I definitely started off strong.

Now, onto the 2018 Stats!

Total Visitors for 2018: 8,361 (Definitely wasn’t expecting this much growth from last year, 4 times more unique visitors!)

Total Views for 2018: 18,453 views (That means that each visitor looked at at least 2 pieces of my content, if not more. Again, so happy about that.)

Total Likes for 2018: 8,208 (Thank you all, this is what really makes me want to continue making content, seeing how you guys enjoy it so much!)

Total Followers: 634 followers (Grew so much this year, hi everyone!)

Total All-Time Posts: 950 posts (526 are book reviews and 10 are webcomic reviews, the rest are anything from book blasts to Top Ten Tuesday posts)

Best Performing Post: True Beauty Webtoon Review! Since this post was one of the top results on Google if you searched for the webtoon, I got a lot of views for that. 1,426 to be exact!

Now, onto my goals for next year. I have been in a bit of a slump for these past few months, and I definitely haven’t been interested in reading as much as I wanted to be. I had many tours that I had to read for, but even then, I sometimes didn’t even have the time to finish everything in time. This lead to a lot of stress, as I felt as if I was spending every waking minute reading, and then I still forgot stuff or got things done very late. This is going to change for next year.

This leads to my first goal.

No more than 3 blog tours in a single month

Blog tours were honestly the bane of my existence this past year. I sign up for way too much during an impulsive burst, and then I am stuck trying to read multiple books in a single night to write reviews at midnight. I only want to do 3 blog tours a month, maybe even less, so that I can get back to truly enjoying the novels rather than rushing to get to the end.

No more than 2 book blasts per week

I feel as if book blasts are bloating my post numbers, even though I don’t really do much for them except repost the content I’m given. I want my blog to be full of content that I actually create so I will cut down on those specific posts.

Accept no more than 30 ARCs all year

Unless the book is coming from an author that I already know and love, I am going to be extremely selective. Again, this year was very stressful trying to review books before the release date, and I am still reading books that I forgot about throughout the year and getting those reviews done as soon as I can. I want to be able to catch up on my other favorite series in 2019 so I will be cutting down.

Finish the Outlander Series

This is something that I always wanted to do, and I really think that I could finish it next year. They are huge, but I might have the time to do so.

Spend more time writing reviews

I feel like the quality of my reviews and posts vary all the time. I want to be able to spend more time on each review to make it the best that I can possibly be. I feel bad when rushing reviews, or when I feel that I have writer’s block and can’t write as well as I want. As I am reading fewer books and truly delving into the ones that I read instead of rushing through them, I feel as if the quality of the reviews will improve.

Merry Christmas + My Top 15 Books of 2018

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a wonderful day with plenty of food with friends and family. I am personally enjoying my day with my family, and watching a few Christmas movies.

I have officially read 300 books (so far) in 2018, and I might add a few to that list once I make sure that I have reviewed all the books that I read on my Kindle. Here is my list of favorite books that I have read in 2018!

15: The Forest Beyond The Earth

This book made it to my list because it had such a unique ending. The worldbuilding was great, and Wisp was a charming protagonist, but the ending really made the whole book come together for me.

14: Charm: A Cinderella Reverse Fairytale

I really do love reverse fairytales, and this trilogy was my favorite reverse fairytale one all year! I loved reading about Charm and Cynder, a princess expected to marry, and a servant with a secret. To anyone looking for a reverse fairy tale trilogy to read that has fairly cheap novels, this is the one.

13: Spellbinding His Ranger

I enjoy LitRPG novels, but this novel took things to another level. Not only did it have the LitRPG elements I love, but it also included a real-life romance between characters in a guild. This is also a series, so I am excited to see who falls in love in the third installment of this series.

12: Trouble In Glamour Town

I had heard some stories about how dangerous/difficult it was to work in Hollywood in the 1920s, but this book truly took inspiration from those stories and turned it into its own world. I love all of Mallery’s historical fiction novels, but this one definitely taught me some things that I would have never guessed about old Hollywood.

11: The Mermaid’s Escape

This book was what truly got me into the Reverse Harem genre, and I loved reading the series. Unfortunately, it finished this year, but I am totally into McAllen’s new series. I will never forget this mermaid reverse harem tale.

10: Tales From Piney Grove

Not many people know what it was like to grow up on a farm as a sharecropper, and it is a piece of American history that is being purposely forgotten. Morrison tells you everything in this novel, their joys and sadnesses, their wins and their losses. Then, he tells you about how it is now in Piney Grove, and it truly opened my eyes. Definitely a worthwhile read.

9: The Radium Girls

I was truly saddened after reading this book, and partially scared. I was sad for the teenage girls who were tricked and lost their lives because of radium. I was scared because many of the stories took place in a city truly close to mine, and I know my city also had some really bad factories in it at one point. I know that these poisons don’t go away, so I wonder what/who is truly hiding in the cities graveyards and parks. Truly frightening thoughts!

8: Don’t Look At Me

This Beauty and the Beast retelling really stuck with me, and I fell in love with how the story was told. I will definitely be rereading this novel in 2019!

7: Enlightened

I never really got into reincarnation fantasy novels, but this YA one sold it for me. It had parts that were historical fiction, other parts that were romance, and other parts still that were fantasy. I even loved the sequel to this one, can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

6: This Mortal Coil

I have read a lot of fantasy YA novels, but I hadn’t read a great science fiction YA novel in a while before this one. This book, wow. It completely blew me away, and restored my faith in YA science fiction novels!

5: Nevermoore: The Trials of Morrigan Crowe

This book has some of the best worldbuilding I’ve seen in a middle-grade fiction book in a while. I loved the sequel as well, even though I haven’t gotten around to reviewing it yet. Stay tuned, I will definitely post my review soon!

4: Off And Away

I definitely wasn’t expecting a picture book to be on my list of favorite books of 2018, but here we are. The art in this book was absolutely stunning, and I was completely drawn in by the story. I am keeping this book for as long as I can, and I hope to be able to see more by Atkinson soon.

3: In A Time Never Known

This historical fiction novel was long, addictive, and so intricate that I felt as if the characters were leaping off the page. I have heard that there is also a sequel in the works, so I can’t wait for that as well!

2: The War Between Us

I never thought about how World War II would affect Korean-Americans. They weren’t all sent off to internment camps, but people in America would still discriminate against them because they “look Asian.” This story tells a romantic tale of true love in spite of ignorant surroundings.

1: Elizabeth’s War

Looks like I truly loved the historical fiction books that I read this year! I still think about this book, and how it opened my eyes about the Civil War. Even though the Union is deemed as a “hero” in the history books, the Southerners weren’t “evil.” Some, like Elizabeth and her family, were simply minding their own business on a family farm when the war broke out. All of a sudden, they were on the front lines, making difficult decisions for the good of the family. This book and Crossfire in the Street were truly amazing reads this past year, and I hope to see more from D.L. Rogers in 2019.
That’s all for now, I will have a 2018 Wrap UP Post as well later this week that includes my goals for 2019. Have a great day everyone!

 

New Art!

 

Thank you so much Evil Eye Candy for the new blog art! The artist I worked with was so nice and made sure that I got everything I wanted for my blog, and more. Now you guys get to see the final product! Doesn’t everything look awesome? I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for new art for their blog or other websites. Here are links to their sites!

Twitter    Instagram    Website

First Impression Friday: Crossfire In the Street

First Impression Fridays are a weekly meme hosted by J.W. Martin. This week I will be discussing Crossfire In The Street.

I started reading this book on the train today, and I was drawn in immediately. Cora is seventeen and she loves someone who is against slavery. Her family doesn’t own slaves, but they are pro-states rights. She doesn’t know if their father will support their love, and he seems to be wary about marrying her. He only seems to be in it for stolen kisses, and he is about to go off to war. Her brother Pete is also making the tough decisions between going to war or staying to work on the farm.

This is what I got within the first 30-40 pages of this novel. I am SO excited to read the rest of this historical fiction novel! I haven’t really seen anything about the South that isn’t super pro-slavery, but it is interesting to see some people who were kind of caught in the middle. I don’t know if they actually existed in real life, but I would like to think that they would.

Also, I love the cover. It isn’t too flashy, but it shows the true darkness of the war. As of now, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new historical fiction novel about the Civil War.

TBR Thursday Post

What have I currently read and not yet reviewed?

What am I planning to read next?

Most of these I have already started, but I am aiming to finish all of them by this time next week. You guys will be in for a treat pretty soon, I have finally figured out my schedule enough to be able to get a good amount of reading in per week. Thank you all for sticking with me through this rough month, and I promise that things will be more organized and smooth in October! Also, get ready for quite a few blog tours! I am definitely getting back into the swing of things.

My Dictator Boyfriend Webtoon Review

Manny has just become the dictator of a nation, but he doesn’t know if he will be able to do a good job taking his father’s place. He doesn’t seem to be able to do anything right, and the people around him don’t take him seriously. Manny’s father is even still working with the people that are supposed to be working for him! He is given a bodyguard so that he will be protected at all times, but he starts to fall for him! Will Manny be able to keep up the facade that he wants a girlfriend, or will he succumb to his bodyguard’s charm and become his boyfriend?

I am not completely up to date with this cartoon, but after reading several episodes of it, I knew that I would have to make an in-depth review of it. I usually don’t like the strictly comedy comics that Webtoons has to offer, as they are usually too cheesy for me to bear. I become uninterested after reading a few episodes. Nevertheless, I love this Webtoon, and I was both entertained by it and addicted to it.

Manny is such a sweet character. He is honestly trying his best to be a dictator, but he just wasn’t cut out for that type of thing. He doesn’t like being forced to socialize with random old men, and he doesn’t know what to do when put in charge of large groups of people. He does things without thinking sometimes, which gets him into trouble quite often. He even gets in trouble with his boyfriend for just leaping into things without really considering the consequences.

I think his relationship with his guard is so sweet, even if it is in this hilarious alternate reality where silly dictators rule the land. I hope that in future episodes we will get to see more of Manny’s relationship with his father, and how that affected his upbringing. We have seen some of this in a flashback or two and some of Manny’s conversations with his dad, but this hasn’t fully been expanded upon. I am really excited to see what else will come of this place!

I also really enjoy the art of this Webtoon. I like the art of all the Webtoons I read, but this one just fit the story. Even the color purple as the color that Manny wears seems to suit him. I can’t explain all of it, but it is really pretty to look at.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an actually funny comedy Webtoon!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

500 Followers Celebration Post!

Definitely wasn’t expecting to wake up to this in the morning! I am super excited and want to say a big Thank You to all of my followers! Blogging has really allowed me to do something productive in my free time, and I have felt like I am wasting a lot less time in the past few months. I have found amazing stories with amazing authors, and have given myself fuel to read as I work towards new milestones. I’ve never been the perfect blogger, which can be proven by the number of unread ARCs that I still have sitting in online and real life libraries. But, I am constantly working to improve, and seeing the likes and comments I get on my posts only inspires me to work even harder.

I am not sure how this is going to change in college. I might start blogging less, and even switch to limiting the number of books I read a week to make sure that I am spending an adequate amount of time studying. I was also considering doing a 500 followers giveaway, but with college starting, I don’t want to put any extra burdens on myself. I don’t know what the future holds, but I am pretty proud of how much this little blog has achieved in the past year and a half. I don’t want to slow down or stop, but my priorities have to be on school.

That being said, I am considering adding some different types of posts! You probably all know, but I am a big kpop fan. I want to show some of the groups that I love to you all! I also enjoy watching anime and reading manga, so I want to get back into that to showcase it on my blog. I want to show all of the things I enjoy to you guys!

Keep on the lookout for new content and posts, even if they might be less frequent! I can’t stop thanking you guys for how far we have come, and I hope that you support me just as much as we move into the next stage of this blog. I don’t ever want to stop giving content to you all!

Also, keep a lookout for a giveaway in the next few months!