the outstanding blogger award

Heyo, my friends!

(That intro feels a bit awkward. I’m trying it out. We’ll see if it sticks around.)

I’ve been tagged by Evelyn Brooks to do this award, and I’m super excited because her questions are amazing.

the Tales of Goldstone Wood tag

Well met, Knights (and everyone else)! Today I’m doing the Tales of Goldstone Wood tag, which was created by the Knights of Farthestshore. (I did help found that site, but I didn’t create this tag… credit for that goes to Knights Kendra and StarJoy!)

rules:

~ use the tag graphic (see above)
~ link back to Knights of Farthestshore as the creators of this tag
~ answer the 10 questions
~ tag at least 4 people

Note: minimal spoilers here! You can enjoy this post even if you haven’t read the books.

the Narnia tag // feat. me fangirling + I need to reread the series

Hey, friends of Narnia! (At least I hope you’re a friend of Narnia. If you’re not… allow this post to turn you into one. ;)) Today I’m doing a tag that I first saw on Jenna Terese’s blog (and also Kendra Lynne’s), and was then tagged for by Ryan Elizabeth, who informed me that it was created by S.J. Barnard! (Go check out all those blogs. They’re amazing.)

It is, obviously, the Narnia tag, and I’m so excited!

(Also, I haven’t blogged for way too long. I’m just so happy to be posting again.)

I first discovered Narnia at age six when my dad read the books to my little sister and me, and I appreciate them more and more as I get older. They’re true masterpieces of literature (*glares at Tolkien*) and I love them to death. (Well, not literally to death. But, you know. A lot.) I actually, well, haven’t read them in far too long, so we’ll see how much I remember 😉

me and music tag // some of my favorite songs!

Hello, friends! I saw this tag on Germaine Han’s blog and decided to steal copy do it. 😉

(Also guysss. Look at my header. A dude playing the cello in the FOREST!? It’s perfect. *happy sigh*)

The rules:

1. Link back to original (Sophie @ Me and Ink) so she can see your answers and listen to the tunes.
2. For every prompt you choose to do, name 1-5 songs (you can use Sophie’s graphics).
3. Have fun and play your music LOUD!

the Tolkien Blog Party tag // feat. my favorite fandom ever

Elen sila lumenn’ omentielvo — a star shines on the hour of our meeting (depending on what time it is where you live, of course), and I have returned to take part in this marvelous tag created by Hamlette. I discovered it on Kendra’s blog and couldn’t resist taking part (I also love Olivia’s post, especially the aesthetics). If you know anything about me (and you should by now), you know I love Tolkien. He’s my favorite author, LOTR is my favorite book, and I’m known as the Middle-earth expert (aka Quenya, Tengwar, and Elvish history geek) among my friends.

So naturally, I’m doing this tag. 😉

(I’m still mostly active on my other site, but this tag seemed to fit better on my main blog here. I’ll be posting rambles/poetry on when through the woods, and tags here, for the foreseeable future.)

meet my book Remnant // a linkup

Hello, lovely blog readers! Today I’m participating in Belle Anne’s Meet the Books! linkup, which I found on Sarah @ Sixty-Something Trees‘ blog. Basically this is a way for me to tell you even more about my current project, Remnant.

What is the title?

I think I already said this twice, but… Remnant is the working title. I have a few other ideas but I’m too fond of this one to let it go at the moment. The series title (yes, it will be a series) is the Silver Saga. Previous titles include The Chosen (abandoned when I learned that Chaim Potok had a famous book named this; I didn’t read said — marvelous and deservedly famous — Potok book until last year), Emberhope (channeling my inner S.D. Smith), Keepers of the Past (*cough* Shannon Messenger), and Book Title (my personal favorite).

I think I’ll stick with Remnant.

the Hamilton book tag + the outstanding blogger award II // ft. mini book reviews and random appearances by my WIPs

Tag posts are fun to write, but I have an (irrational?) fear that people don’t like them as much as my other posts.

Since you’re one of these “people,” do you mind telling me? I’d like to know the truth instead of clinging to an assumption that may or may not be true.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are the tags I’ve been tagged for.

the Hamilton book tag

I found this tag at J Long Books; Jaedyn said anyone who loves Hamilton could do it. Since I am doing it, you’ve probably (correctly) assumed that I love Hamilton.

This post is not supposed to be a Hamilton review, but… I have a hard time stopping myself from reviewing things. I’ll be brief.

• THEATRE // I love all things musical theatre, and have seen quite a few shows (live and recorded) and participated in dance, acting, and singing lessons. Thus, I know (a little) how hard it is to perform well, and Hamilton is performed very well. The second time I watched it I watched mostly the ensemble, which I encourage everyone to do on their second time through!
• WRITING // I also (surprise!) love to write. I consider myself to be fairly good at it (twelve years of practice, six of which were spent consciously trying to improve, helped in that regard). So I advise you to trust me when I say that the writing is marvelous. For example:
  I’m in the cabinet. I am complicit in
  Watching him grabbin’ at power and kiss it
  If Washington isn’t gon’ listen
  To disciplined dissidents, this is the difference:
  This kid is out!
  Read that aloud. Can you rhyme as well? I doubt it. (I can’t.)
• HISTORY // Hamilton is not completely historically accurate. Basic knowledge of the Revolution/early American history, and access to accurate historical information, is important if you want to fully understand the context and reality of the time period and events portrayed in the musical.
• CONTENT // The movie is rated PG-13. It has more profanity than almost any other PG-13 movie I’ve seen. The sexual content is about what you’d expect from that rating. All violence is portrayed via dancing and acting (no blood is actually shown, and gun duels are dramatized). I personally recommend it for ages 15 and up, but please read reviews, talk to your parents (if you live with them), and think carefully before viewing.
• That being said, I could easily squeal about this movie all day, and I highly recommend watching it.

Mini review done. Let’s do the tag.

flotsam and jetsam | 7

Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,
We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door!

And though the world be messed-up and broken, I go, I go, I go to write this blog post. (See the last flotsam + jetsam here.)

Note: I’m writing this on August 2, but I’m going to schedule it for the 15th 😌 and expect plenty of random emojis because I just discovered how to use them on WordPress. After 1.25 years of blogging. 😂

ALSO! I didn’t post any island living this week, and I might not next week. We’ll see. I absolutely intend to finish it, and to continue to post it on Wednesdays (and other posts on Saturdays), because the schedule has been super helpful, but it won’t be every week. 

I spent most of June and July listening to new music. I discovered a lot of songs and artists I never thought I’d like. Here’s a short(ish) list:

• turning out // ajr
• he is not safe // ross king
• addict with a pen // twenty one pilots (content: “addict” + “suicidal”)
• homeward // future of forestry
• in case you don’t live forever // ben platt
• the girl i mean to be // daisy egan
• i love betsy // andrew barth feldman (youtube)
• dear me // nichole nordman
• all you wanna do // aimie atkinson (content: sexual references)
• hiding in your hands // mallory bechtel
• wander. wonder. // the arcadian wild
• forgive us our trespasses // audiomachine
• never be alone // shawn mendes
• sound + fury // ella mine
• grace & mercy // jess ray
• peace // taylor swift (content: profanity)

But then I started listening to old playlists. (I was tired of my July playlist.) And remembering all the music I used to love.

• correspondence: a fiction // levi the poet (some mature content)
• the passing of the elves // howard shore
• too good // jess ray (content: mention of drugs + self-harm)
• empty chairs at empty tables // gareth gates
• this my soul // the gray havens
• everything ever 🤣 // andrew peterson
• wait for me (reprise) // hadestown
• hamilton // lin-manuel miranda (content: profanity, sexual references)

I guess what I’m saying here is, listen to old songs sometimes. Don’t forget the music you used to love. You’ll probably still love it, and even if you don’t, it helped to make you who you are.

the marvel cinematic universe tag

I am burdened with the glorious purpose of posting this tag on my blog…

I was tagged by Mary @ Wild Writing Dreams (thanks, Mary) a while ago, and figured I’d better actually get around to it.

Before I do, though, a warning: I’m on vacation (as of two days ago) and will not be replying to comments/reading other people’s posts/etc. for a couple weeks. I promise I’ll return (probably around the 15th or 20th, depending on various factors)!

Now that we’ve got that out of the way… the tag!

the rules

• Feel free to include the above graphic somewhere in your post (but it’s definitely not necessary).
• Take the questions and answer them on your blog (or social media or wherever!).
• Tag up to 5 other Marvel fans!

the mid-year book freak-out tag // speculative, historical, and much Goldstone Wood

Hello hello, readers, and welcome to (as the title suggests) a post in which I talk about the books I have read so far this year, the books I want to read later, and the fact that despite my grand plans to read 40 works of nonfiction this year, I have yet to read a single one.

(Yes, seriously, I haven’t read any nonfiction.)

I’ve seen this tag on several blogs already; I’m going to be taking my questions from Heather @ The Frozen Library and May @ Forever and Everly.

Before we start: I wrote this post on June 21; I will have (hopefully) read more books before its publication. (Including some nonfiction?) And, I’m going to relegate rereads to the “honorable mention” category (unless there’s a very good reason not to).

reading stats

books read

• total: 77 (+ two in-progress works by friends and about 10 Melanie Dickerson books — more on that later)
• library books/borrowed: 47 (that was hard to count!)
• ebooks/read on computer: 18
• audiobooks/read alouds: 3
• DNF: plenty that I will finish (including some I’m currently in the middle of); I don’t think I’m abandoning any
• rereads: 46
• sequels: 46 (I think?)