Hello my wonderful readers! Today’s post is different, with lots of random reflection and some pretty random facts, but it will include books, as most of my posts do. This is a book blog, after all!

Anyways, today, October 17th, 2020 is my birthday! At 10:21 this morning I turned 14 years old. And I have some thoughts, and also 14 facts about me because honestly, why not.

Do you ever visualize a post, spend lots of time thinking about how it’s going to go, then when you actually sit down to write it, you just sit there, your fingers resting on the keyboard. I recently read Marie, the wonderful blogger behind Drizzle and Hurricane books’s post about turning 27, which sort of inspired this.

But I also just have somethings that I want to talk about today, so here they are. But first, 14 facts about me that you may or may not have already known.

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1. Rainy days are my favorites for everything, especially curling up with a good book and some tea
2. Snacks while reading are absolutely amazing, and are very crucial
3. I have played the trumpet since I was 10, and piano since I was about 6
4. I have a golden retriever named Clover who is about a year and a half, and I have a three year old cat named Loki who can be grumpy at times, but is very very sweet
5. I do ballet and have since I was really little. Dancing is one of my favorite things to do
6. I’m in 8th grade and I live in Oregon. That’s two facts, isn’t it. Whatever
7. Once upon a time I decided I’d read 1000 books in a year. I didn’t follow through with that, but I still set very ambitious TBRs
8. Some of my favorite authors are Rick Riordan, Roshani Chokshi, and Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
9. I’m fostering 3 kittens right now, and am going to keep one, named Zoë (yes, after Zoë Nightshade)
10. Watermelon, pasta and artichokes are three of my favorite foods
11. I live off of applesauce, and I think that apples are amazing
12. I got a covid test once, and tested negative. It kind of tickled but didn’t feel that bad
13. I am Jewish, and I’m not super religious, but that is a big part of my life and who I am
14. Someday, I want to be a published author and a journalist, hopefully for the New York Times

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The year I was 13 wasn’t the best year of my life. It was 2020. But there were still some really good things that I did, and that happened.

This blog has really been something that I worked on this past year, and it’s meant so much to me to have so many people who want to read it. I technically started it when I was 12, but the last year I’ve had a lot more time to invest in it, and I’ve made so many amazing friends.

My bat mitzvah is definitely not something that would happen these days, but last November, it was exciting for me, and I also got to see a lot of family.

Seventh grade had it’s ups and downs, but at least the first part of the year went well! Online learning is not something that I would recommend, but the in person time that I have was good, especially since I was able to see my friends. It’s not something that I really thought about then, but I miss talking to my friends in person, and seeing them, and just being around other people in general.

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But things haven’t been all wonderful. They definitely have not.

Covid has thrown everything off track, and even though it’s been more than half a year, sometimes it’s still hard to process that we are in the middle of a global pandemic. What’s especially hard for me is seeing the federal government’s response to this.

I’ve been feeling so stressed out lately about where the United States is. Watching the debates, listening to Donald Trump, it’s really depressing. I look around and it makes me so mad, seeing what people are doing, and honestly, it’s so frustrating.

Basic human rights are not up for debate, and it drives me crazy seeing those things discussed, as it’s not the obvious answer that women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, and that people of color deserve equality.

And I haven’t talked about a lot of stuff like this on my blog, but right now I have to, because it’s as much a part of the past year of my life as anything else.

The US election is coming up in less than 3 weeks, and the results are going to have enormous affects on the world, and to be honest, I’m scared. I am terrified of what will happen if Donald Trump wins, and as a kid who isn’t old enough to vote, I am begging you to vote. Your vote matters, and is important, and will make a difference.

On a different note, I’m going to be also using this post to react to your assumptions about me from a while ago. I have had a lot of difficulties getting forms to work, and I don’t think that I received everyone’s, but here is what I got, and how accurate you were:

Beck said…

You’re a Hufflepuff, you like golden retrievers, you probably have a sock under your bed, you have brown hair, your desk has a stack of papers on it, and someone in your family has glasses

I… do not know my Hogwarts house. (My friend had me take the test once but I forgot what I got), I LOVE golden retrievers (I have one wonderful one named Clover) I most definitely do probably have a sock under my bed and I do have brown hair. My desk has a stack of papers plus a million other things piled up on it, and my dad has glasses.

Beck, that was kind of creepy.

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Abby said…

You wear glasses; you don’t partake in any snacks while reading other than a cup of black tea; your shelves are organized by genre; you like tennis

I do not wear glasses, but my dad does! I eat a lot of snacks while reading, including tea, but not black tea. My bookshelves are sort of organized by genre, and also how much I like the book. And also a little by color. But mostly by genre. And I do like tennis, although not as much as my dad does!

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Jaedyn said…

• Cats > Dogs: as a personal thing, I am more of a cat person, but I love both and think both are amazing
• You have brown hair: yes I do!
• You didn’t become a bookworm until around ten years old: actually, nope! I have loved reading basically my whole life
• Purple is your favorite color: yes. purple is very wonderful amazing color
• The Percy Jackson movies made you wary of all book movies: 100% YES. The PJO movies are terrible, but never fear, we ARE getting a tv show
• You’re not a huge fan of romance: I actually am fine with romance. It’s not my absolute favorite, but if it’s done well, I like it
• You have a younger sibling: yep! I have one younger sister
• You have never traveled to a different country: I actually have traveled quite a bit to other countries, including Canada and some countries in Europe
• You have a soft aesthetic with a lot of cool pastel colors: maybe? probably. I’m not sure
• Your bedroom is super cozy: I think it is.
• You’re a Ravenclaw: again, I don’t know my hogwarts house haha

And don’t mind me, just switching my way of response on the very last one

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So, after all that, I’m going to wrap this up! The year I was 13 was interesting to say the least, and I’m hoping that despite covid, 14 will have it’s moments as well.

Part of me feels like 14 is so old, but at the same time, especially looking around at all of the other bloggers that I’ve connected with, I feel so much younger. Everyone else seems so much older and wiser, and I’ve felt like it’s hard to find my way through everything happening.

But I’ve met bloggers my age, and honestly, age really doesn’t matter here, and that’s something that I’ve really grown to like. I love books, and I love talking about these books. That’s why I’m here, and I’ve found so many other people who want the same things. I’ve discovered new favorite books, and I’ve screamed about old favorites.

And lastly, I want to thank you all for 200 followers! I can’t beleive that so many people have read my blog and liked it enough to stick around read more, and it means the world to me. I’m going to try and do something fun for it, because why not! Anyways, I’m going to actually end here, because although I could go on for a while, I really need to wrap things up!

When is your birthday? What’s one random fact about you? Chat with me in the comments below!