Looking Ahead

As September draws to an end, I can’t be more happy with the posts I put up this month. Doing double features was a lot of fun! I blogged about things that really mattered to me, so I didn’t anxiously look at my Stats page and sweat about the views. I was again reminded of the fact that blogging won’t seem like a chore if I’m writing about things I love. I wanted to do another Inspiration Circle post today, but the WordPress website seemed to be shutting me out, so with the limited functionality that the app offers, I decided to turn this one into a ‘How I Spent September and What to Expect from Me in October’ post.

Vocab Wednesdays #26

The Reader in Me

I intend to keep this post short because I just received some devastating news and it has totally put me off. However, I made myself a promise that I won’t skip a day in September, so here is the customary Monday post, the last for the September Reading Month.

Best of The Lord of the Rings: Many Partings

If you have already read the books, you will probably recognise the title of this post. However, I meant to use it only to convey that this shall be the last post of the series and it seemed fitting to borrow an actual chapter title from the book.

Did you celebrate Hobbit Day yesterday by any chance? I just couldn’t find the time to bake the customary lembas and watch the trilogy again, so mine was pretty low-key. This has been rescheduled to Sunday because my college is working on Saturday (I think you can imagine the sad emoji that would accompany this sentence). The only significant thing I did was wear my Arwen necklace replica that I got as a birthday gift this year and gush over a friend’s acquisition of the One Ring (I’m still not sure if that’s a replica; I shall watch for the signs much like Gandalf did and post my observations on Twitter).

I initially thought this post would be about two things: the best relationship and the best villain as a bonus, but then I realised that I had so many things to talk about that I just couldn’t leave it at that. So I’ll be discussing several other favourite moments here. Is your elf-boat (or hobbit feet, if that’s your thing) ready? Then let’s be on our way!

Vocab Wednesdays #25

Book Review: DIY MFA

Title: DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community

Author: Gabriela Periera

Genre: Writing guide, prescriptive nonfiction

Published by: Writer’s Digest Books

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Best of The Lord of the Rings: OST

I don’t have much time on my hands today and I really couldn’t schedule this post beforehand, so I was looking to write a short post this time around. This gave me a sudden inspiration. Although I’d originally conceived this series to be a book discussion (and fangirl feels outlet), I decided to include the movies as well. After all, why not? The movies introduced me to the books and The Lord of the Rings is the highest Oscar-winning movie series till date. Purists might discard the films as crass commercialization and call it but a shadow of the published works, but the movies did get a lot of things right. The first thing that comes to my mind is the soundtrack.

Vocab Wednesdays #24

Book Review: King Ottokar’s Sceptre

Title: King Ottokar’s Sceptre

Author and Illustrator: Hergé (Georges Prosper Remi)

Genre: Comic, adventure

Series: The Adventures of Tintin #8

Setting: Syldavia

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Best of The Lord of the Rings: Setting

Forgive me for almost missing the deadline in this one. I’ve been busy these few days, what with tests coming up next week. I hope I somehow manage to put up posts next week. Anyway, let’s worry about that later. Today I shall continue to explore my favourite series, The Lord of the Rings, and talk about the one place I loved more than the others (Don’t worry, this post will be small). Every reader knows that setting is very important to a story, especially in the fantasy genre. This series has extremely complex world-building and not only is it detailed, it is exquisitely beautiful. There were several options to choose from – the white towers of Minas Tirith, the quaint and simple Shire, the dangerous mines of Moria, the dwellings of Elrond in Rivendell… well, you get the picture. [Once again, please note that since this is a book discussion, the post may contain spoilers.]