This video is a week or two old, but I wanted to give people a chance to get out and grab this book before posting my review here. I’m talking of course of Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, a really unique new book that centers around both a girl name Darcy and the character she creates named Lizzie. This book really spoke to me because she wrote her first novel in 30 days, in November, which many will recognize to be NaNoWriMo. I loved reading about someone else’s experience with the project, and I had a lot to say about the book!

Have you read Afterworlds yet? Do you participate in NaNoWriMo? Please leave me comments and let me know your thoughts!

I’ve been trying my hardest to make it up to you guys lately that I took such a long blogging break by making it really easy to find everything I created in the absence. Between my cosplay news, books I’ve read and videos I’ve posted, I’ve been a busy little bee!

Today’s blog post will give you a round up of the most noteworthy videos I’ve made in the last month or so, starting with this GeekGirlCon Candyland video I posted yesterday!

 

I am quite proud of it, and my friends were all such good sports for being involved. I love showcasing the things that make me happy for others, and I think this video did that perfectly.

Next was this hilariously exciting Snack Exchange video I filmed with Joe – we had organized a collab of sorts with a couple living in Korea named Evan and Rachel. They sent us a big box of Korean snacks in exchange for a box of American foods they missed from home.

 

We had a BLAST trying everything. Some of it was weird, some was absolutely disgusting… but a lot of it was really great! Thanks again, Evan and Rachel!

The last video I want to share with you is my FALL BOOK HAUL! I can’t get enough of books and reading lately and this is my newest stack of stuff to read.

I can’t wait to get through many of these, and October has been a big reading month for me. I’m only 2 books away from hitting my 30 book goal for 2014! You can bet I’m gonna raise that goal next year – 30 was easy!

I hope you enjoyed my videos, and I’ll be back soon with some more October/Halloween fun!

Raise your hand if you’re a fan of Stephanie Perkins, the author of Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door! Now raise your hand if you’ve managed to sink your teeth into Isla and the Happily Ever After!

This book came out on August 14th – which was also the day I posted my video review of it. I decided to wait a little while to post it over here, to give you all a bit of time to catch up and read it, since my video is bursting with spoilers.

 

Please let me know your thoughts about the book down in the comments! Did you love it? Did you like Anna or Lola better? I’m dying to find out.

I’ll hopefully be doing a lot more book reviews in the future, so please let me know if you’re enjoying them.

So… I may have done something crazy.

What could you possibly done that’s so crazy, Kristina? you might ask.

I may have committed to attempting the Book-Tube-A-Thon starting on Monday, July 14th. For those who don’t know what the Book-Tube-A-Thon is (like me, 3 days ago), all the information about it can be found here. It’s sort of like NaNoWriMo, but for reading. This is scary for a number of reasons, but mainly because I already know I can handle NaNoWriMo, even if I undergo small amounts of insanity in the process.

But Book-Tube-A-Thon is terrifying. Book-Tube-A-Thon is the unknown. Book-Tube-A-Thon is gonna be GREAT.

The thing is – writing 1,667 words a day, in a vacuum, is pretty easy. It’s really the challenge of doing it EVERY SINGLE DAY that starts to make you lose your mind. But reading SEVEN BOOKS in SEVEN DAYS? Coming from a slow reader, well, let’s just say it’s going to be a challenge.

BUT I AM SO PUMPED.

I’ll be announcing my full TBR list in the first video check-in on Monday (oh, did I not mention? On top of reading seven books in seven days, there are also daily videos. With challenges. Sure, no big deal, next week is going to be a piece of cake) so make sure you’re subscribed to my channel if you want to witness the madness first hand.

I will end this blog post by revealing the first of my seven books, though:

The Selection by Kiera Cass! I’ve heard nothing but good things about this series, even if most of the people reading it were slightly ashamed by how much they liked it. Not gonna lie, I can be a total sucker for those kinds of books.

You’re probably wondering, after all this, why I am doing this. If it’s so scary, why do it? Well, I have a few answers for you.

1. “Because it’s scary” is one of my favorite reasons to do anything. It’s why this year will be Year 9 of NaNoWriMo, it’s why I have a YouTube channel at all, and it’s why cave hiking is one of my favorite new hobbies. Nothing helps you grow as a person quite like attempting something that terrifies you, and coming out the other side a victor. Or, alternately, failing miserably. Both are okay options! Both are good for you!
2. I’m really pumped on books lately, and the BookTube community seems amazing and welcoming and fun. What better way to try to assimilate myself with them than to tag along on their craziest adventure? I hope they like me. Fingers crossed they like me.
3. How ELSE am I gonna accomplish any of my reading goals this year when there are so many distractions everywhere? I love the idea of a militant reading challenge. I write the most during November and it really works for me. Why not try the same with reading?

I likely wont be blogging much (if at all) during the Book-Tube-A-Thon, but who knows. It’s only a week though, so be sure to check back after for my thoughts on the whole experience. And if it sounds fun to you at all… feel free to join in the fun! I’ll be talking about it a lot on Twitter, especially since it’s just perfect for #JulyReading.

See you on the other side! Two and a half more days before THE CRAZY BEGINS!!!

This is a big day for me… because today I am sharing with you my VERY FIRST BOOK HAUL VIDEO! This is momentous for a couple of reasons:

1. It’s my first official “booktube” video.
2. Even though I’ve made bookish videos in the past (ie. book guilt, accio books tag, etc.) this is the first video I am making actively trying to join the booktube community.
3. I have forever wanted to incorporate reading back into my life in a big way. Like I learned with Team Hypercube… if you want to make time for something you love (video games, reading) — make videos about it!

So, a couple things. If you’re not already following my #JulyReading hashtag on twitter, you’re missing out on some awesome inspirational tweets encouragement, and an all around amazing support group for people striving to read every day. Even if you can’t commit to every single day, you should still follow the tag! It’s been a lot of fun so far.

Second is that I have a goodreads account! Follow me there for up to date info about what I”m reading, what I thought, and what’s coming next.

I hope you like the new video, and happy reading!

I’ve been working on so many new things recently – cosplay, getting into comic books, doing more with fashion on YouTube etc. – it’s been somewhat difficult to balance everything I am trying to do all at once. However, I recently attended a “Bloggy Boot Camp” here in Seattle put on by SITS Girls that was hugely motivating and inspiring, so let’s get back on this wagon, shall we?

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

1. COSPLAY! Eia and I have been hard at work planning our cosplays for the summer, which currently include a fantasy costume for Faerieworlds in July, and the overly ambitious prospect of 3 different costumes (each!) for PAX in August. We’ve luckily got a fair amount of time to get started on all of these, and what with ordering wigs and things from China, it’s really never too early to start. If you want to follow our progress this summer, we’ve just created a Facebook page where we’ll be posting updates, photos and musings about the whole process. Be among the first to follow it!

2. READING! Not only have I been inspired to make reading more a part of my daily regimen for Answerly Books, I’ve also made the executive decision to dabble a bit in the BookTubing world on YouTube. I’ll admit, part of this decision was spurred by the jealousy I felt watching people have so much fun at BEA this past weekend, but jealousy is just as valid an emotion to start doing something as any, right? I’ll be starting reviewing YA books, fiction books, and even the sporadic comic book on my channel so make sure you’re subscribed if that sounds interesting to you!

This Comic Book Haul was sort of my first foray into that new direction on my channel, and it seems to have gone over well.

 

3. FASHION! I don’t know when it really clicked for me, but it just did. I think I was looking at old pictures of me from my touring days, and just honestly couldn’t believe anyone ever let me out fo the house (not to mention ON STAGE) wearing the stuff I used to own. Not to say you HAVE to have good fashion sense, or really that I was even doing anything wrong, but let’s be real sometimes I really could have used a little help getting dressed in the morning.

This all leads me to my point which is, lately I’ve found fashion to be extremely fun and rewarding and I’ve loved finding ways to mix geek with chic (I know, so original) but really, it’s still a new concept to so many people and I love being a part of that journey. A good place to follow me if you’re interested in this aspect of what I do is Instagram. I’ve also done a few fashion haul videos already, but here’s my most recent one:

 

That’s all my news for now, though I also put up my standard monthly favorites video if you missed that. Book related favorites have been creeping in more and more to these videos, and if you haven’t noticed, I’ve also recently developed a pretty permanent anime category in these videos. It’s been a year of self discovery, for sure. Revisiting old hobbies I loved from my childhood (anime) and discovering new things about myself I never knew I was passionate about (comic books, costume making, clothes). I’m so happy that it seems my viewers are along for the ride and enjoy whatever I throw their way, and please keep suggesting more things you think I might like! You probably have no idea how often I take your advice.

 

Thanks for keeping up with this blog as well, and be sure to check back soon – it may be getting a total redesign in the near future! Exciting!

Have a lovely day and remember to get outside if you can. Our weather has been beautiful and I have not nearly taken as much advantage of it as I could.