The Map Shop

Photo by  mentatdgt  from  Pexels Hello travelers,     Welcome back to another wrap-up and TBR. I know this isn't everyone's favorite kind of post (and I'm honestly not a huge fan of it either but it's holding me accountable, so I'll do it for this year and maybe switch things up next year). June wasn't that great a month for me in terms of reading. I hit a reading slump hard  and struggled to get out of it. I think this is also because of everything that's been happening in the world and I just became exhausted. Despite all that, I did manage to read five books in June. These included: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for my Decades Read challenge Review: I enjoyed this. There were some very powerful quotes that rung a little too true but it's not my favorite work by him. Sometimes it felt like it lingered a little too long on an idea or bounced around a little too much. But i'd recommend it. Little House in the Big woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder for C...

I know most people do these as two separate videos but I don't tend to watch those so I thought I'd just do them both here instead. So in January, I read a total of  nine books. These include: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum This is a classic children's fantasy that follows Dorothy from Kansas as she attempts to find her way home from a fantastical world. It's similar enough to the movie that most people know it but there are a few differences that might surprise people. I ended up not liking it as much because I felt it didn't really do anything. there is no threat or danger throughout the story, no lessons are learned and nothing really happens. On top of that, I felt the writing style was dumbed down a lot but it is meant for kids.  Call of the Wild by Jack London A short, classic adventure story that follows Buck, the dog, who is taken from his home in the Southlands and sold as a sled dog during the Yukon Gold rush. He learns how to pull...

Welcome Travelers! Welcome to the Map Shop and the first installment of my Read Through the Decade Challenge. As listed on the calendar that I'm basing all of this on, January is dedicated to the early 1900s, specifically 1900 to 1909. While any books published during this time would work for the challenge, I decided to follow the ones already listed as a starting point. I might tweak this later on as the challenge progresses but for now, I'm just testing out the format. The books listed for January include: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington The Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  Call of the Wild by Jack London The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois The Jungle by Upton Sinclair The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum In the end, I only read The Hound of Baskervilles, Call of the Wild, The Souls of Black Folk, and The Wizard of Oz in January. I did read Heart of Dar...

Hello Travelers! After nearly six months hiatus, I'm back for a new year. Now, with some changes. First of all, obviously, the name change. This is to coincide with the creation of a YouTube Channel with the same name that my husband and I will be doing together. The second change is we're going to expand our scope to include music, movies, and some creative writing. The goal is to do at least one video and one blog post each week. There may also be an Instagram account but I haven't finalized that just yet so I'll keep you updated.Finally, I plan on being a little more experimental this year with what I do, starting with a different kind of reading challenge. Let's start with my plans and goals for the new year. As i said, I'm teaming up with my husband to make a YouTube channel. it's going to be a combination of BookTube, AuthorTube, and a little mix of music and movie discussion and critic thrown in every once in a while. For writing, my goal is t...