Bookshelf fall-decoration ideas

I am in no way really good at decorating or whatever, but this post should just inspire you. I looked everywhere to find bookshelf decoration ideas, but I didn’t find anything, so I decided to make it myself. As I said, do not expect a lot, I am no expert in decorating whatsoever ;)

 

1.   Leaves are falling

When someone mentions fall I always immediately think of the beautifully coloured leaves that are everywhere. And of course this is also a great way to decorate your shelf. I put up some fake leaves onto my shelf (as you can see on the picture), and it even looks like as if they were FALLing! (Get it? Yeah I know.)

2.   Light it up!

What fits fall better than fairy-lights? Right! Nothing. Non-coloured lights would fit fall better in my opinion, but I only have colourful ones, so I used these ones. Anyway, surrounding your shelf with lights just makes it look so much nicer.

3.   Use candles

Candles are perfect for every season, let’s be honest, but I especially love them in fall and winter. Of course you can use any candles you want, but for my bookshelf I prefer candles that actually work with battery and not with real flames. You can get these at any decoration store nowadays, and in my opinion they look just as good as normal ones.

4.   Decorative glasses

You can use such glasses for basically any season. For fall I just filled it with chestnuts, a few big and small leaves and a few fir cones. All the things fit fall perfectly, so I decided to put these things in. Putting this on your shelf, also on or between books, makes your shelf look just more fall-y.

5.   Owls

Same as candles, owls fit any occasion, right? But combined with some leaves you can even make your owls look more like fall. Of course you can use any Owl you want, I just found this one and thought it looked cute on my shelf.

6.   Other decoration ideas

The remaining thing do not really fit into a category, so I will just provide you some pictures, which should inspire you.
I have another tip though: I found out that it looks better when you combine thing, and do not just leave them on your shelf alone (same with the owl and the leaves). The decoration sticks out more this more, which is what we want, right?

I really hoped that some of these things inspired you to make your own bookshelf decoration. If you decorated your bookshelf too, please send me a picture!
See you next time!

Wrap-Up: September 2015

Books I read in September:

◇The Iron Knight - Julie Kagawa {470 pages}
◇Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz {360 pages}
◇The Iron Legends- Julie Kagawa {336 pages}
◇The Wrath and the Dawn - Rene Ahdieh {401 pages}
◇The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater {420 pages}
◇Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan {330 pages}
◇Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick {380 pages}
◇Legacy of Kings - Eleanor Herman {411 pages}
◇I'll give you the sun - Jandy Nelson {430 pages}
◇Red Rising - Pierce Brown {154 pages read in September}

All in all: 9 books completed, 1 started
Total pages: 3692

8 tips on how to read more during school/college

I know that when we students go back to school, we usually do not have a lot of time for reading anymore, but today I have a few tips for you, which could help you to change that and increase your reading during school time! :)

o   Don’t force yourself to read
If you do not feel like reading, it won’t make sense to force yourself to do it. Your mind will always slip off to another topic. You will read 5 pages, and you won’t have any clue what it was about, because you were so distracted. The most important thing is to take your time. If you want to play some video games, or watch some Netflix, then do it. Your excitement for reading will come back eventually, I promise.

o   Bring a book everywhere you go & use your “in between” moments
This is a tip that really worked well for me. If you have a book in your bag, ready to be read, you are more likely to pick it up. If you have a short 10 minute break, use the time and read these 10 minutes. Even if you only read a few pages, it still will make a change at the end of the month. You can also use the spare time when you’re on the bus going to school, or go home from school. These “in between” moments, where you have nothing else to do, are perfect for reading.

o   Use ear plugs
A lot of people tell me that they find it hard to read when other people are around because they can't concentrate, and I can totally understand that, but I got your back: Use ear plugs. You can get them at any pharmacy store, or even at some libraries, and they are extremely helpful. They help you to concentrate more on the book than the other people around you. Another possibility would be to use your headphones instead of ear plugs. You can even play some music, if that doesn’t distract you from reading.

o   Set a specific time to read (before bed e.g.)
It always helped me a lot when I set a specific time to read when I was in school. You can do your schoolwork and studying during the day, and when you are finished you can look forward to reading. (Another small tip: It is always better to do the work first, so that you can read as long as you want afterwards.) I would especially recommend that you try to read everyday before bed. I personally do not have a specific time when I go to bed. I can be from 9pm to 11 pm, and I can get a lot of reading done in these two hours. When you read before bed it helps your mind and eyes to relax, because we are on our phone/laptop/TV a lot during the day, and usually right before bed too, watching some YouTube and whatnot. The "blue" light from these devices however is very bad for our eyes. But when you read before bed it helps your eyes to relax and you will probably sleep better. So only benefits, right?

o   Try to lower your procrastination time
I know it from myself: We use far too much time for social networks nowadays. But this is important time that we could use for reading. So next time you are tempted to spend 2 hours on Tumblr, shorten the time to 30 minutes and use the rest of your time for reading. You will be able to read a lot more if you shorten your time on the internet, trust me. I know that it’s really hard, but just try it!

o   Read shorter and more light hearted books
If you don’t have a lot of time for reading it’s very exhausting to read long books with heavy topics. Try to read 250 – 300 page books, and you will see that the excitement for books and reading will increase, because you can read the books faster, and your monthly wrap-ups get bigger and bigger, which is always an amazing feeling, right? Light hearted books will probably also make you happier than sad and serious books, and thats helpful because it gives you more motivation to pick the book up again, than a book which makes you sad or even tired because of the topic. After a hard school day a light hearted read is much better.

o   Try out graphic novels or audio books
Maybe your aren’t going to school by bus or train, but by car, so in this case you can’t read, but you can listen to audiobooks instead while driving. You can get a lot of "reading" done whilst driving that way. Another possibility, when you have a short amount of time for reading, is that you try out graphic novels. These aren’t as exhausting and time consuming to read as normal books, but a lot of fun as well. So when you are trying to relax, and don’t have a lot of time, I would highly recommend that you try out some graphic novels, also if it’s out of your comfort zone.

o   Participate in Reathons or Readalongs or join Bookclubs
It is always much more fun to read when other people are reading with you, so bookclubs can be an amazing opportunity to read and discuss books with friends. A Readathon however can push you to read more in your free time, because you want to complete the challenges as best as you can. These Readathons always give me more motivation to pick up a book, because I know that other people are reading with me at the same time.

I really hope that at least some of these tips were useful for you! Please let me know which one of these tips is your favourite, and also comment some of your best tips on how to read more during school.
Thank you all so much for reading this and checking out my blog! I will hopefully see you next time. Bye!

Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Rene Ahdieh

“Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.” 

Content:

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.

Cover:

This cover is my most favorite cover of all time. It beautifully designed, and it really captivates the whole feeling of a fairytale. Honestly, I wouldn’t know how to make this cover any better.

My opinion:

This book was amazing. Breathtaking. Perfect. I do not have words. But let’s start from the beginning. I will structure my review into three parts now: Writing, Plot and Characters. So let’s start off with the first one.

Writing:

The writing was absolutely beautiful, and very poetic. It honestly felt like I was reading a fairytale, and not a YA book, because the writing was so amazing. There were a lot of Arabian words, which were explained in the Glossary on the back. A lot of people felt disturbed by that, but these words didn't disturb me at all. In fact I was rather pleased to learn new words in that language.

Plot:
The second I heared what this book was about I knew that I was going to love it. I love all things related to the fairytales of 1001 nights, and I knew that I was going to adore this retelling, BUT I would have never thought that I would love this book as much as I did. The main plot was probably the romance between Khalid and Shazi. A lot of people complained that it was Insta-love between them, but I do not think so; Insta-affection maybe, but not love. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a slow-burning romance, but the way their relationship develops is at a perfect speed in my opinion. I ship them all the way. There was another aspect of this book, and that was the fantasy/magic aspect. I was rather confused by these parts, and I felt like it was only briefly mentioned, as the romance was in the main focus. I hope that we see more of this magic in the next book. The ending however was just so heartbreaking. How could the author do this to me? I need the second book right now!

Characters:

The characters were amazing, and all so authentic. Especially Khalid, who was my favorite; his character is just so interesting and complex. I loved how we discovered that he is not the monster everyone thought he was, and that he in fact has a dark secret. I just love such characters. But also Shazi was really great. I wish I was as eloquent as she is. I think she even is one of my favorite female characters ever. But also the side-characters were great. Jalal brought some funny moments into the story, and Despina’s friendship with Shazi was just great. I even felt like Tariq played an important role in the book, and I am interested to see how things will develop.

Conclusion:

This is definitely my favorite book of 2015 so far; A beautiful tale with great writing, awesome characters and an amazing story. I cannot, and I repeat, CANNOT wait for the next book! Please give it to me!

Rating:

5 | 5 stars

★ -★ -★ -★ -★