DIY: 'Review on a bookmark' bookmarks!

I stumbled upon the 'review' bookmarks from Knock Knock and I've been interested in something similar since I don't want to pay a lot for bookmarks I'm going to use once. Then I found these bookmarks from Wild Olive and even though they're quite cute they're not really what I'm looking for but it's great for inspiration!

I decided it would be best to make my own 'review on a bookmark' bookmarks and it's quite easy! I bought some large gifttags in Søstrene Grene for a dollar and some watercolors (which is totally optional). I've made a bunch of different ones and my goal is to match each bookmark to the book it 'belongs' to.

I quite like that they're not just white, black or brown and I think they're quite cute with the ombre thing going on.

Now on to what this is actually about, the review part:

I have divided it into two parts: the 50 page mark and a part for when you're done with the book. I judge a book on the first 50 pages so I want to be able to put my thoughts about those pages on my bookmark.

I don't know if I'll be able to but I'll try to summarize the first 50 pages and then the entire book in a single word. I want to choose a smiley that explains my feelings towards the book, I want to rate the characters, the plot and the setting from 1 to 5 stars and then I can add whatever I feel like towards the end.
The colored bottom is for the final rating.

It's such quite a quick way to summarize your thoughts for a review!

I may change or add to it in the future but for now I'm quite happy with the result. But, if I should change it, what do you think I should do?

Being a reviewer

I've been asked a couple of times what it's like to be a reviewer. We get to read certain books before the release date and we receive books for review - obviosuly. 2 years ago I didn't know about any of this - it was around the time that I discovered booktube. I envied them - a lot - I wanted to receive books for review to. I didn't know how hard that actually is. Being a reviewer is fun but at the same time very stressful.

You probably know about sites like Netgalley and Edelweiss, well I discovered more sites where you can receive free ebooks in exchange for reviews; Bookblogging, blogging for books etc. And when my blog started gaining followers (when I was on the other domain) I began receiving review requests daily and then publishers contacted me.. So now I'm left with a ton of books - both digital and physical - that I have to read and review. I've already read a bunch of them, but I still have a long way to go.


Requesting a sh*tload of books
A problem when you first begin being a reviewer is that you get overwhelmed and request a load of books - which is a very bad idea. Netgalley is probably why, you can just press 'request' and then you find out whether or not you get the book and after a while with denials you start requesting more because you think 'I'll not get approved to all of them anyway' - which is an even worse idea, because once the ball is rolling; it's rolling! Limit yourself to a few instead of 20 like I did.
Another problem, very similar to that, is when you start receiving mails from publishers about which of these 10 books you want to receive - and you start thinking that and that and that and that and end up requesting a bunch of them because you don't know better in the beginning.

Not enough time
Readers always say that there's too many books and not enough time - well that enormous pile of books is just getting bigger when you're a reviewer. I know I didn't stop accumulating a ton of books when I started receiving books for review. I kept on buying and because I also had review books I made them a higher priority than the books I already own - which means that I'm now left with over a 100 unread books - and that's only the physical ones.
The problem is that you don't have the time to read your own books, you have to choose whether you want to read the review books or your own books.

Stress!
Another problem is that it is quite stressful; I like reading a book a while before it's release date so that I have the time to write a proper review that can be released on the release day or before - but if you have other things to do, it's quite hard finding the time to get those books read and sometimes you just end up reading a bunch of books and writing half-decent reviews.
Also having that big pile of books weighing on your conscience is stressful. One month - arc August -  I tried getting through them all but I ended up receiving more books because of it so it didn't even leave a dent in the pile.

Choosing
A thing I have a hard time with is choosing between ALL of the books; library books, review books, the books I own etc. Also; should I read newer books or classics? Should I read this or should I read that? I feel like you don't really have the time to devote the time to read classics when you're a reviewer because your focus lies on the books in front of you - which means newer books. Unless a classic is re-published you don't really get to read classics - I know I don't.
Choosing can also be quite stressful, but you feel like you're neglecting some books as well.

It's exclusive
My favorite thing about being a reviewer is probably the feeling you get when you receive a package full of books or an email saying you got approved to a certain e-galley. Being a reviewer feels quite exclusive because you don't have to pay anything, you literally just have to speak your mind and the fact that you can read books before others is also adding to that feeling. But is that feeling worth being stressed? To this day I still can't figure it out.


Don't get me wrong I like being a reviewer but it's not purely a good thing, it has two sides like everything else but if you can somehow find a balance in being a reviewer and being 'yourself' it's great! But if the scale tips more towards reviewer it gets stressful. Netgalley 'bans' are adviced!

Life of a Blogger: Favorite animals

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat. Every week there is a different topic/question that we have to answer/write about. This week it's all about our favorite animals!

I'm actually not that much of a "animal-person", I don't like cats, birds or housepets aside from dogs... 

Panda's! My nickname at home is actually Panda (Amanda - panda, get it?). And since I almost only wear black and white it just fits...

But they are so cuuuute! I mean look at them, they're so fluffy and sweet and just adorable!

I also love my labrador Felix, he is so old and lazy that you can't do anything but love him. He has this weird habit of lying his head on my book if he wants my attention...

Remember to leave your link in the comments!

Life of a Blogger: Travel

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat. Every week there is a different topic/question that we have to answer/write about. This week's theme is "Travel"

I don't travel at all, I went to Holland for a month when I was younger, and I've been to Germany a couple of times, but I've never really traveled. That will change this year though! We are going on a school trip to Ireland! It's going to be great!

I really want to go to London and Paris though (I seem to mention that all the time). I want to go to Paris because the language is beautiful and I just want to experience everything. And London, well.. my dad grew up in England but I've never been there. I just want to go to a place where I can talk English all the time, go into a store and pick out any book and it's in English (I only read books in English even though my native language is Danish).

So where do you want to travel to or where have you already been?

Life of a Blogger: What's your favorite place?

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat. Every week there is a different topic/question that we have to answer/write about. This week's question is "what's your favorite place?" 

My favorite place can be many places! It could be a spot in our house, a country, somewhere outside, there simply is a bunch of things to choose from.

My favorite place (meaning country) is probably England or France. Let's start with why England is one of my favorite places. I've never been to England before, but since my father grew up in England and he started teaching me English when I was about 4 years old, I've always felt that England was a sort of "second home". I actually almost only read books written in English because I feel they are so much better. Now to why I love France. Again, I've never been to France, but I love the language! I have taken a course, so I can say a little bit in French, but not that much. I think the language is beautiful and I just want to visit the country and see everything with my own eyes. 

My favorite place in our house is probably my bed. I have this really comfortable big bed with a gorgeous headboard - that is perfect to lean against because it literally feels like you're sitting in a comfy couch. I also love my bed because I get to snuggle up under the covers whilst reading.

My favorite place outside is probably going to be my special "chair" in our garden. My father knows how much I love to read, and how much I enjoy being outside while the weather is good. And since we just moved to a house with a garden (instead of living in our apartment) I get to choose a chair or something like it, that I can sit in and read for a longer period of time. 

My favorite place (that is actually a place) is the library. When I was younger I was bullied a lot, so I either sang or read. At my school people didn't really go to the library, because it was for losers - and in the beginning I was really embarrassed about going in there. But soon our library became my safe place. Nobody ever found me in there and I could just spend the break reading. Ever since that time I have loved libraries, I get to live in a different world for a time and to know that you can pick a book - any book - and travel to another place is something I love. 

What's your favorite place?

Life of a Blogger: Camping

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat. Every week there is a different topic and this week's topic is camping! 

When I was younger we camped a lot, we practically lived at a caravan park every summer for the entire summer - until my parents thought me and my siblings where too old for camping. I have very fond memories of camping since I met a bunch of new friends from all over the country - I am actually still friends with a girl named Daniella, it turned out that we lived not that far from each other (like 15 minutes in car) so we were best friends for some years I believe. We don't live that close now, since I moved... But I love meeting new people, as long as it's not too many at the same time, and I think camping is a very relaxing way to meet new people!

I remember always going to the beach while camping, it was a 10 to 15 minute walk and I always loved going there. The ocean was so big and I think I started to realize that the world wasn't so small and that we weren't the only country (I knew there was other countries, but I didn't fully realize it until seeing the ocean). 

Another perk of camping is that you get to see new places - if you travel while camping. We never did that so we only saw one place, but I still liked being able to go somewhere else and just relax instead of being home all the time. Camping felt like my second home in the young years. 

My grandparents have always been very fond of camping - my grandfather lives at the caravan park from the day it opens to the day it closes (my grandparents are divorced). 

I have always thought of camping as a sanctuary because I don't have that many bad memories from camping. 

What do you think about camping?

Life of a Blogger: Guilty Pleasures

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme that is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat. I have chosen to do this meme since I want to get to know others better and think it would be great for you to get to know me better!

So this week it's all about our guilty pleasures... I have a few bookish guilty pleasures, so I will list my non-bookish and my bookish ones. I will probably list new ones while I read others posts, since I know I've forgotten some.

But first we have to define what a guilty pleasure is! Because I love doing those things! But I researched a bit and found out that a guilty pleasure is something you like, but shouldn't like. That sums it up pretty well, don't you think? - We don't actually have the term "guilty pleasure" in Danish, so some of them may not be defined as guilty pleasures by you, but they definitly are to me!

Now on to my guilty pleasures:

Non-bookish:

• Eating sweets before dinner. Sometimes I just crave something sweet, sour or salty, and since I know that if I don't satisfy my craving, I am just going to get crazy when I first get that sweet, sour or salty thing. So I let myself get a few pieces and everythings fine - but I know I shouldn't
• Spending the entire day in bed. I often have papers to write, homework or chores to do, but I just love relaxing in bed for an entire day, especially after 5 days with school,working, homework, chores and such.
• Taking a long, hot bath. I love taking baths, they relaxe me - especially the steam! But I just feel so bad afterwards because I know I am more fortunate than others.. 

Bookish:

• I love to re-read my absolute favorite books, but I have so many unread books, books I have received for review and some from the library that I absolutely HAVE to read. But I want to re-read a well-loved book instead. 
• Buying books that I know I'm not going to read. 
• Spending the entire day reading. This goes along with "spending the entire day in bed". 

What are your guilty pleasures?