I NEED AN EARLY HOGWARTS PREQUEL (ROWLING, PLEASE FEED MY FANDOM NEEDS) // BOOK CHATS!

Hey Guys! Today is a day… If you’ve been following my blog lately then you know I’ve been struggling a bit with life and school and family in general but that I’m trying to push through (you can read more here). So, because life is sucky right now, I thought I would try and get my mood up by talking about one of my favourite topics – Harry Potter, or more specifically why I would kill for some early Hogwarts era prequels (not Fantastic Beasts).Β 

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First of all, let me introduce you to my absolute favourite YouTube video of all time. You can find it here and I urge you to watch it before you finish reading this blog post. Anyway, now that you’ve me the SuperCarlinBrothers and your life has been completed (you’re welcome), you know all about one of my favourite theories of all time! ANd now I can finally start this post!

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I know that we all want to read about The Marauders (which I have talked about here & here) but let’s go back a little (a lot) further and think about how amazing it would be to read about The founders of Hogwarts and how Hogwarts was built. Following the video, if you watched it, wouldn’t it also be fantastic to also learn about the origin or objects like The Pensive, The Veil and The Mirror???

If it’s true that The Ministry was built around The Veil isn’t that kind of amazing?? Wouldn’t it be amazing to learn about the origins of these objects or even just Hogwarts in itself? Even if you don’t care about the theory, I still think learning about how Hogwarts came about and getting to know the Sorting Hat and the founders would be really cool! And, it would also give us some really cool insight into how Hogwarts and the houses have evolved from the very beginning to the Harry Potter Hogwarts years!

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DO YOU WANT ANY HP PREQUELS OR ARE YOU SICK OF ALL THE HP CONTENT SUCKING YOUR WALLET DRY??

WHAT KIND OF HP PREQUEL WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ?

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WHAT MAKES ME TAKE A BOOK OFF MY TBR?

We all take books offΒ of our tbrsΒ at some point and IΒ know that I do it pretty regularly so I thought I would talk to you guys about why I do it specifically. I usually have a reasonably small Goodreads tbr, compared to a lot of other readers as I don’t like for it to be over 90 books. So, today I thought I would dive into how my tbr is so small – why I decided to take a book off my Goodreads tbr.Β 

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NO 1

My main rule for taking a book off my tbr is to getΒ rid of it if I remember nothing of why I put the book on my tbr. I don’t usually read the blurb, so I don’t know much about the books I read before I read them. So, if I don’t remember the reason I added the book to my Goodreads tbr then I will get rid of it. What’s the point in keeping a book I know nothing about?

NO 2

I also try to keep my tbr pretty small because I like to be excited about it. If I’m not interested in the genre, author or series etc, then I will take it off my tbr. I want to be excited to read the books on my tbr and be able to decide m next read based on it, if there are a bunch of books I’m unsure about or know nothing about then that’s going to make choosing my next read a lot harder than it needs to be.

NO 3

I generally don’t like to have controversial books on my tbr. I took 27 Hours off myΒ tbr first, because the book is controversial. But, what really pushed me over the edge and determinedΒ that I will never read it, is the author. Tristina Wright has been accused of harassing a reviewer & has also been accused of sexual harassment. I was so excited to read it last year but I had to take it off my tbr because every review I have read has talked of how harmful this book and it’s author is and so, it got axed.

BOOKS I’VE TAKEN OFF MY TBR

book bookBecause You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of VillainyΒ  Β Only Human (Themis Files, #3)Β  Β Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)Β  Β The Upside of UnrequitedΒ  Β 27 Hours (The Nightside Saga, #1)

NO 4

The second last reason I will take a book off my tbr is because a book has been on my tbr for a long time but, I know that realistically I will never read it. Or, because I know it will take me years to read the book and so it’s on my physical tbr. An example of this would be The Book Thief.

NO 5

The last reason I take a book off my tbr is just simply because I don’t care to finish the series or even start it anymore. For example, I’ve taken Only Human off my tbr because I am no longer interested in finishing the trilogy.

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WHAT MAKES YOU TAKE A BOOK OFF YOUR TBR?
WHAT BOOKS HAVE YOU TAKEN OFF YOUR TBR LATELY?

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THE WORLD DOESN’T STOP AND START WITH STATS???

Hey guys! Today I am done. Just, done stressing out about my blog statistics. In my opinion, my stats aren’t what they could be, but right now I am tired and just want to stop stressing out about my stats for once.Β 

So, because I am stressed out about my blog and all I have wanted to do lately is improve it and my stats, today I am going to talk about why I should stop stressing about it.Β 

If you want to know more about how WordPressΒ statistics work, you should check out the support page here, it’s super helpful!

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VIEWS

Views can be important, especially when you’re talking to publishers, but generally, they don’t matter. To me views aren’t all that important, I usually don’t pay any attention my views number per month. How do I know that all my views aren’t just coming from the same 10 people? Are people actually reading my posts or just clicking in and out of my blog?

What’s the point in stressing about stats you really cannot do anything to improve?

VISITORS

 

So you got 1000+ views a few months ago but now you’re down to 300-400 a month. Crazy as it sounds, that’s a good thing – you have regulars, you’re famous!

Along with views, I typically don’t stress about my visitors stats per month or even per week. Sure, it’s nice to know that a bunch of people have said h to your blog that month. But, really, your visitors, along with your views will also help when you’re trying to request from publishers – it shows publishers that you have a frequent audience on your blog.

Though, if you are trying to improve your visitors and views stats then you should try Top 5 Wednesday or another meme like that because it’s easy to get people to look at those. If you also link them to the pages on GoodReads that could also help your views.

LIKES

 

Look at how many people like you! Don’t worry if the numbers are down, who cares about likes anyway? These stats areΒ not indicative of how good a post was or how popular your month has been with your followers, that doesn’t mean you didn’t rock their bookish world. I rarely even look at my likes stats because honestly, so many people forget to even like a post anyway. What’s the point in stressing about a post that a bunch of people possibly did read – just didn’t remember or have time to like or comment on.

COMMENTS

I feel like comments are the stats people fretΒ over the most – why? Well, how do you comment? If you comment back then half of them are from you anyway. You only had 90 last month but now you have 190, what did you do differently? Did you engage in some conversations? Plan a buddy read? Did you enjoy your new comment styleΒ or did you hate it? Did you write a post that engages your readers?

In the same way that likes often don’t show how popular a post was, comments don’t always do that either. Often people want to say something but are too shy or just don’t know how to say what they want to say so they might like and leave. Don’t worry about it, your blog is awesome and you’re probably killing the blogging game and making people super jealous!

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At the end of the day, your stats won’t define you – youΒ define you. If you need stats to make your day better then you’re looking for happiness in all the wrong places. The world doesn’t start and end in stats so take a moment and enjoy your blog for what it is. Your blog.

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ARE YOU CONSTANTLY WORRYING ABOUT STATS?
DO YOUR STATS MATTER TO YOU?

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PREQUELS I NEED IN MY LIFE // BOOK CHATS

Hey guys, today I’m coming at you with a post I wouldn’t normally write but I have recently felt inspired so I figured why not give it a go? Today I’m talking to you guys all about the prequels I want to read!

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A PEVERELL BROTHERS DEATHLY HALLOWS PREQUEL

Because which Harry Potter fan doesn’t really want to read this? I would honestly love to see a whole film just about the creation of the hallows and just to see how Death follows them around and if that would be the road Rowling goes down. I mean, not everyone believes this is how it all went down, and honestly if she just made a book of short stories about the brothers on Pottermore I would love it. I JUST WANT TO KNOW ALL THE THINGS

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MRS WHO, MRS WHICH, MRS WHATSIT

I know, I can’t have this from the original author but, like, if V E Schwab or Stephanie Garber wants to randomly write a story about these three wonderful ladies I would be totally down with it. I’ve only read book 1 but these ladies are super sketchy and I love them so PREQUEL PLEASE

 

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QUEUE THE CLICHE PREQUEL IDEA: THE MARAUDERS

Yep, eventually, this will happen guys. Okay, we know what good Ol’ J. K. is like, she just can’t stop with the Potterverse – give it a couple of years and we’ll have a prequel in the works and let’s be real, probably a movie deal too.

I want this, though I feel, not as much as everyone else. I want to know more about how the Marauders made the map and how the hell they all managed to graduate. I want to learn about what Harry’s parents were like in their prime (and only) time. I want to know how Lily felt when she finally gave in and said yes to James. I want confirmation that Sirius and Remus were more than friends (though it’ll never happenΒ because Rowling only ever makes her characters gay affter she kills them – and they would be alive in this series/book).

I JUST WANT TO KNOW ALL THE THINGS

What was James’ first Quidditch practice like? What did they eat for breakfast? What were their favourite classes? I HAVE TOO MANY QUESTIONS

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WHAT PREQUELS DO YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED IN YOUR LIFE?

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WRAP UPS: SHOULD I CONTINUE? // BOOK CHATS

Hey guys, today I’m coming at you with a new Book Chat! I haven’t done one of these in many moons but I wanted to discuss this with you guys. Today I wanted to talk to you guys about monthly reading wrap ups!Β 

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I have been doing monthly reading wrap ups since I started my blog, early last year and for a while this year I was even doingΒ monthly favourites; talking about movies and blogging favourites.

Lately I’ve been contemplating stopping writing my wrap up posts. But, why?

  • They take up a lot of time.
  • They are my least read posts
  • I don’t enjoy reading wrap ups, so why do I write them?
  • They’re not a fun or engaging type of post.

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SO, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

So, if I end up quitting my wrap ups, what should I do? I would still like a way to tell you guys about the books that I’m reading. I was thinking about doing wrap ups every 5 -6 books that I read, like a lot of Booktubers have started to do.

Though I’m not really all that fond of the set out for those posts, so I really want to try and make a different sort of wrap up post.

Do you guys have any idea for how I could write my wrap ups in a more interesting setting? I want to make my wrap ups more fun to write and more fun for you guys t read?

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Do you write reading wrap ups? How could I c=imporove my wrap ups for you guys?

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WHERE I BUY MY BOOKS + FREE SHIPPING IS LIFE // BOOK CHATS

Hey guys today I’m coming at you with a bit of a different post (for me, anyway). I’ve been buying more books this year, than probably any year before, and honestly, I’m blaming stress. BUT, nevertheless, I found that I whenever I go binge-buying books, I tend to use the same few sites and so I thought I would help a brother out and tell you guys about the places I shop because let’s face it most of us prefer online shopping around Christmas anyway.

*This is not sponsored!

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WHICH SITES DO I USE?

Bookdepository

  • Free Shipping Worldwide
  • So many different covers
  • You can get books in different languages

This is probably my main source for online books, it’s definitely cheaper than it would be for me to buy in store and the free shipping is a Godsend.

Wordery

  • Free Shipping Worldwide

When I’m not using Bookdepo, I use Wordery. Wordery and Bookdepo are usually pretty close on price, but I often have a bit of trouble getting certain comics or graphic novels on Bookdepo, 99% of the time I can find those comics on Wordery.

Amazon

I only use this one for ebooks but I know that we’re actually getting an Amazon in Australia (Sydney based, I think) and I could not be more excited.

PLACES I FOUND WHILE WRITING THIS POST, GOD BLESS THE GOOGLE

BetterWorldBooks

  • Free Shipping Worldwide
  • They have a bargain bin oh my lord
  • Sells textbooks & used books

BookOutlet

  • Often has free shipping for orders over $35 (Canada & USA)
  • Easy to spend a lot of money (but also so cheap for US people wtf)
  • No point in shopping here if you live internationally, it will cost you a fortune

Booktopia

  • AUS$6.95 shipping per order
  • Do have free shipping offers
  • Australian company (Based in Sydney)
  • Sells DVDs, books, ebooks, magazines

The Co-Op

  • Australian company
  • Free shipping (on domestic orders) OR AUS$6.95 flat
  • International – Cost calculated at checkout
  • Sells stationary (pens, notebooks), board games, backpacks, textbooks
  • Basically, this prepares you for back to school

Bookfari

  • Free delivery worldwide
  • Sells new & used books

Books A Million

  • Free shipping for members (US only)

Thriftbooks

  • Ships internationally
  • Shipping costs (pretty cheap)
  • Free standard shipping in the US

Biblio

  • Crazy cheap
  • Different sites (AU, NZ, UK) – find them at the bottom of each site
  • Really great shipping costs (under $5 from what I saw) considering the prices of the books

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Do you shop online or in store?Β Do shipping rates bother you?

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WHY I KEEP MY GOODREADS TBR SHELF SMALL // BOOK CHATS

Hey guys, today I’m coming at you with a new Book Chats post. I thought today I would talk about why I like to keep my Goodreads tbr shelf small. I touched on this in my How To: Manage A Big TBR post and I thought I might go a bit more into depth about it today because I know a lot of you guys have massive tbrs and probably think mine is a bit weird.

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I know it’s weird but IΒ generally try to keep my tbr under 90 books, obviously, my physical tbr is a completely different story, but in terms of my GoodReads tbr, I like to keep it short and tidy. I know that 90 is a funky number, but for whatever reason 100 just feels like too much for me. I can’t handle that pressure.

I find that when my tbr has 90 books it often feels really cluttered and gives me a lot of anxiety, I know, anxiety from a tbr what the hell. Also, I often don’t put my e-arcs on my GR tbr unless I am really excited about it. Usually, I just add it to my currently reading when I start it because I already have them all in a word doc and on my NetGalley shelves.

asdfghjasdΒ Juliet Takes a BreathΒ Joyride Vol. 1Β White Sand (White Sand, #1)Β To Capture What We Cannot KeepΒ Sovereign (Nemesis, #2)

ARCS ON MY GOODREADS TBR SHELF

I prefer it to be small because it is more beneficial/ realistic for me to be able to go to my shelf and organise my tbr that way. I generally prefer to have a small tbr because I know think it also gives a pretty good idea for the books that I typically enjoy. Whereas I know when I look at my friends’ tbrsΒ on GR they seem to just have 500/600 books and I honestly cannot understand it. It all just seems too confusing to me to have so many books on my tbr that I will probably never read.

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I don’t see the point of having 500 books on my tbr shelf if I’m not actually going to read 400 of them – which is part of the reason I really enjoy the Down The TBR Hole meme, it’s really cool to see why people no longer want to read a book and the evolution of a tbr.

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Honestly, I really just prefer to be able to go to my tbr, pick my next read and not stress about it. I like that it isn’t a long process for me to put together a tbr, I know what I want to read and that’s that. I get that having such a small tbr may seem completely limiting but I actually quite enjoy it.

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How big is your GR tbr? How big do you prefer your tbr to be?

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MY AUDIBLE TBR // BOOK CHATS

Hey, guys today I’m coming at you with something a bit different. I’m really enjoying writing my book chats and I feel like I haven’t been talking about audiobooks lately, so today I thought I would give them some love. Today I want to talk about all the audiobooks I have on my Audible tbr, I mostly have these because I meant to listen to them and never got around to them (*coughs* Anne of Green Gables) or I am saving them for a readathon (*coughs* stay tuned).

*This is not sponsored by Audible, but I did leave the links to each of the book pages on Audible if you’re interested.Β 

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I don’t know if you guys are really into audiobooks, and I know some of you struggle with listening to them or have never tried. but I do have an audiobooks guide that I’m posting tomorrow which will hopefully help some of you.

Either way, I love audiobooks and they’re mainly how I read tomes like Game of Thrones or Mistborn. I really love listening to books on audio, but I noticed yesterday that I seem to have accumulated quite a lot of books that I have yet to listen to.

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fridgesListen to LoveΒ Anne of Green Gables AudiobookΒ Born a Crime AudiobookΒ Kanye West Owes Me $300 Audiobook

LISTEN TO LOVE // ANNE OF GREEN GABLES // BORN A CRIME // KANYE WEST OWES ME $300…

Listen to Love is literally an hour and a half of a bunch of lgbt people talking about marriage equalityΒ in Australia. Since the plebiscite is coming up I think I will probably try and get to this soon.

I was planning on reading Anne of Green Gables earlier this year after I binge-watched Anne with an E (which I also reviewed) but unfortunately, I never got around to it. However I’m sure I will get to it soon, I’ll probably take a day and just watch the movie and then immediately feel the need to read the book.

I also have Born A Crime on my tbr. I started watching the Daily Show this year and I really love Trevor Noah, so naturally, I really want to read his book. His life sounds really interesting, and I honestly don’t read enough memoirs so I really hope I can get t this one soon.

I honestly cannot tell you why I used up a credit to get this, nor when the hell I am going to listen to it. Kanye West Owes Me $300 & Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made It Big just sounds funny if I’m honest. I only know about this because a couple of months ago Megan Batoon was obsessed with it and it just sounded good so I thought why the hell not.

fridgesShadow and Bone AudiobookΒ Six of Crows AudiobookΒ Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer AudiobookΒ The Dark Prophecy Audiobook

SHADOW AND BONE // SIX OF CROWS // SWORD OF SUMMER // THE DARK PROPHECY

Shadow and Bone & Six of Crows are also on my Audible tbr. I mean if you go anywhere near the bookish community then you know that these two books are pretty darn popular, though Six of Crows is definitely more well known. I really want to get to the Six of Crows duology but in my mind, I can’t justify picking up the duology without reading the Grisha trilogy first.

I also have Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer and The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo). I have actually started The Dark Prophecy but I’m not enjoying it so far so it’s pretty much been put on hold for the moment, it’s not a DNF but I really don’t think I’m in the mood for it at the moment. But with The Sword of Summer, I have literally been meaning to pick this up for years but haven’t gotten round to it yet.

fridgesfrisges firdgDaughter of the Burning City AudiobookΒ The Bourne Identity: Jason Bourne Series, Book 1 AudiobookΒ The Martian Audiobook

DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY // THE BOURNE IDENTITY // THE MARTIAN

Now, these three have absolutely nothing to do with each other. I have heard such amazing things about Daughter of the Burning City so I am hoping to get to this next really really soon.

I also have The Martian and the first Jason Bourne novel, I really loved the film adaptation of The Martian and I have been meaning to get to the book for years, and I am really hoping to actually get to this next month. I also have Jason Bourne, I have always thought the movies sounded interesting but usually, I find spy movies pretty meh. I really enjoy the James Bond franchise but I have so many issues with it and the books are really boring, so I’m hoping this will be better.

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Do you listen to audiobooks?
Do you have an audio tbr?

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THE PERKS OF READING OUTSIDE & WHY DON’T WE DO IT MORE? | + INTRODUCING “BOOK CHATS”!

Hey guys, today I’m coming at you with a new feature for my blog. I don’t know if it will be a regular thing but I was hit with some writing inspiration today so I thought I’d take advantage of it.Β 

For the Booktube-a-thon this year one of the challenges was to read a book outside, and at first I was absolutely and completely nervous, of all things. I really wanted to do well for the readathon and thought this challenge would be my downfall. Turns out if was the easiest challenge and I enjoyed it so much more than I has assumed I would. So today I’m going to talk to you guys about my sudden change of heart and why I now really enjoy reading outside.

EVIDENCE I ACTUALLY DO READ OUTSIDE FEAT. MY DOG

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We’re readers, we’re known for being able to read anywhere at any time, we read while we walk, we read while we eat and someday we will probably master reading while we sleep. Though, for some reason we have an aversion to reading outside, we just sort of refuse to do it. But, why? It’s kind of stupid when you think about it, and that’s something I’ve actually been doing a lot of lately. Why do we not like reading outside? Is it because of the sun? Is it because we’re afraid we’ll be less productive if we’re outside?

Well, like I said, I’ve recently been thinking about this a lot and I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re all a bit too attached to our homes. I don’t want to sound preachy in this post, I mean it’s not like I’m going to cafes every weekend and reading while drinking coffee, or having a reading picnic at the park. I am literally in my backyard with my dog, that’s it. And, I love it. Mind, you I live in Australia so it gets pretty hot pretty fast so I’m only out there for half hour blocks at a time, but so far it’s been great.

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01 – It’s Β Wayyy Easier to Breathe Out There

I know this may sound weird or even clichΓ©, but when I’m outside I find it a lot easier to actually breathe. My house is really stuffy so going outside is literally a breathe of fresh air. I just go outside, sit in my little chair with a water bottle (and sunscreen because I actually enjoy being pale as paper) and of course, my sunglasses on. It’s also just another excuse for me to hang out with my dog.

 

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02 – It’s Just Nice, Also You Don’t Actually Have to Be Out There for A Long Time

I live in a pretty noisy home environment – my brothers never stop talking (or they have their devices up to full volume) and I live next to a main road in my Suburb, naturally it’s pretty loud whatever I do. But, I’ve found that even though the road near my house is pretty loud, it’s nowhere near as distracting as it is inside my house.

So, a plus for reading outside, for me at least it’s majorly quieter. I’ve found that reading in a quieter environment is not only more peaceful but it does wonders for headaches, if you’re in a noisy area and you’re trying to read your brain is basically doing double time trying to get that book done.

Also, I don’t think that it’s that hard to find a comfortable place to read. You’ve found a quiet spot, now you just need to find a comfortable area. Whether that be at the park or in your backyard.

 

In terms of how I read, I just sit out in my backyard in a semi shady spot (because it’s actually Winter over here and the wind will kill) with a reclining chair (depending how bad my back pain is) and I’m all set!

Also, I just want to mention here that you don’t even need to be outside for that long. I’m usually only out there for half an hour at a time, and I may even take a break after 5 minutes and decide to play with my dog instead. The whole point is to take a break and get outside.

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03 – It’s Good For You

My third and probably most important point that I want to make with this post is that reading outside is good for you. 1 you’re reading 2 you’re getting some vitamin d.

No matter whether you’re in your backyard or literally sitting on your balcony because people in apartments exist to, you will be getting vitamin d. I saw a statistic the other day that was talking about how something like 0% of America is actually Vitamin D deficient, and while I wasn’t really shocked by it the stat still made me sad. Come on guys, the sun is right there waiting for you. By going outside you;re doing yourself a favour.

 

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04 – It Will Make You Happier

I always feel a whole lot better when I’m outside compared to when I’m inside, where its stuffy and loud. I also feel like outside I’m free from so many distractions, I don’t have all my stuff out there so what I can do is pretty limited, and I feel a whole lot more centered, I’m outside for a reason. I also usually give myself a goal because that the type of person I am, if I’m working I give myself a word goal or tell myself I have to completely outline a blog post. Whereas, with reading I just give myself a chapter goal.

I also feel more creative when I’m out of the house, I think of a lot of my blog ideas when I’m in the car or when I’m on the bus to school. I also wrote the majority of this post outside because I was hit with a sudden inspiration and absolutely had to write the post or I would’ve been thinking about it all day. Who needs shower thoughts when you can just go outside for half an hour?

Also, just a point to make for all the people who like to multitask. You can still read outside and get stuff done, seriously it’s not as hard as it sounds. Just grab an audiobook and take your dog for a walk.

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Do you like reading outside? What would inspire you to read outside?

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