Top Ten Tuesday Rewind: Posts That Reflect Me

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week, the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish gave us a chance to pick a previous Top Ten topic that we want to either do again or do one we weren't able to participate in originally. As this post title says, I decided to pick a topic I hadn't done before: posts that I think best gives you an insight to me.

1. Hello, My Name Is... I think this is a pretty obvious one considering this was the post that broke down the last privacy barrier between me and all of you. I revealed my full name and it felt freeing, actually.

2. This vs That Book Preferences. Again, this should be fairly obvious since I compare common book preferences and then say which ones I prefer. Of course, I add other preferences in as well.

3. 10 Steps of Fangirling. I fangirl. A lot. Can there be such a thing as a lot a lot? Because I feel that  fangirl is one of my most used words in my vocabulary. So I shared the steps of fangirling with you all and hopefully made another fangirl come to be in this world.

4. Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. You had to have known that this was coming after #3. Because I fangirl, I instantly loved the book that epitomizes fangirling, but includes other fantastic elements as well. My favorite quotes, some great gifs, and squealing were definitely involved when creating this review.

5. Stop! In the Name of Love...Please. The post in which I call out my most hated tropes in YA fiction. If you want to know what to avoid writing about so that I'll like your book, this post will definitely help.

6. Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. I think reviews tell the most about a person, but this one does in particular for me because not only did I have a GREAT reading experience, but I also had a blast writing the review. This book was full of the things I loved: retelling, mythology, swoons, Disney, mystery, flawed characters, love, and twists.

7. Any Top Ten Tuesday. What I love about Top Ten Tuesdays is that you can see a condensed version of everyone's opinions on a certain topic. Favorite characters, settings you want to see, blogging things you love, books you swoon over, favorite authors...all topics that reveal more about the reader within each blogger. Pick a Top Ten Tuesday in my blog history and you just revealed another part of me.

8. The Song of the Lioness audiobook series by Tamora Pierce. I listened to this series over the summer as I sold my soul to my mind-numbing job and I really think it saved me from drastic measures. Since it's been around a long time and each book was spectatcular, I talked about it as a series in whole and non-spoiler alert: I loved it. How could I not? It includes gender-bending, which I adore.

9. The Blogging Age. This is probably my most proudest post since I think it elicited a lot of comments and really got people thinking. After having trouble with BEA, I realized that my age may be a disadvantage in the blogging community, which is ironic since I'm a teen blogging about teens.

10. Gallagher Girl Appreciation: Love, Quotes, and GIFS. If  you've read any positive Top Ten Tuesday post, my review of United We Spy, or any other snippet of me fangirling, then it's very possible that it shows my extreme love for this series. It's still contemporary, but I read this before blogging, in the age of Sarah Dessen-type books. I loved all things about spies, but I never found a book about them and this was kind of a big deal. That one random pick-up at a library actually started a fandom for me.

For every post I listed, I thought of this.

What posts reflect you the most? Which topic did you choose for Top Ten Tuesday?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Warning: This will be a selfish pointless post. 

I had been trying to finish up any school by Friday since I was not going to do it on my birthday (if I even found time to do so) and with that, I had to push back blogging duties. So this post won't be a review or a giveaway, even though I considered such a thing. That was a horrible teaser, wasn't it? It's like my mom saying, "I was thinking about baking cookies [or another dessert] today and was going to, but...didn't." I decided to hold off until the blogoversary in October since I just had to fork out a chunk of my paycheck to my parents. 

This isn't a complaining post either, no worries. 

Basically, I'm writing to say that today marks my 17th birthday! Not 18 or 16, the monumental birthdays, but still a pretty big deal. Over the years, many things have changed, naturally. One of those is how I have viewed gifts and my view on this topic is the opposite of how I view books. 

In the past, I would give my mom a full one or two page list of birthday gift demands ideas. This year, I gave her a measly section and told her to go at it, not being able to think of anything worthwhile except for a few books. I love gifts though. 

You know...just saying ;) 

With books, I have gone from not caring about them to I NEED THEM IN MY LIFE. I loved them in the past, but it was a different, more shallow version than it is now. 

Of course, no matter how many times I think "eh, birthdays are no big deal," when it starts to be the week beforehand, I start to plan out a multiple day celebration in my honor. So some things really don't ever change. Hey, I get one time out of the year that is about me. I'm going to soak it up. 

My plans for the day? If you're reading this in the morning, I'm probably in IHOP with my friends, taking advantage of their free birthday meal coupon. If you're reading this in the afternoon, I'm probably napping or cramming in an exercise before the big meal. If you're reading this in the evening, I'm probably chowing down on my mom's delicious homemade meal of Mexican food and BANANA PUDDING, my favorite dessert of all-time. 

If you actually stuck through reading all that, thank you. Now go enjoy your Saturday!

Happy Birthday to all the July babies out there! We're pretty awesome.