As summer heats up, it can sometimes be tough to stay cool at night. I recently discovered a new company called Slumber Cloud that helps solve that problem. They make bedding that is designed to regulate your temperature. No more waking up all sweaty!
Sounds interesting? I am now an affiliate and you can use my code ODDBOOK15 to save $15 off of your order of $150!
So far I’ve tried out their Plush Throw Blanket (pictured above) and it is amazing! It’s so soft and cozy but still light enough to use in the summer nights. I definitely recommend it!
In addition to so many bedding options (I’m talking sheets, comforters, mattress pads, and pillow), they also have sleepwear and laundry products!
Hi beauties! This isn’t bookish related but I just wanted to let you guys know about a super easy gift idea. With so many occasions coming up (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations, etc.), it can be hard to find a gift. But I’m here to tell you that Birthdate Co. (formerly Birthdate Candles) has two great gifts. Keep reading to find out more and look out for my special discount code!
The first is their birthdate candle which combines astrology, numerology, and tarot to create a unique candle!
Photo Credit: From their website
The second is their new product, the birthdate book! It’s a beautiful, made-to-order book that illustrates your unique astrological birth chart — the map of the stars and planets at the exact moment you were born. With over 70 pages of detailed horoscope analysis, you’ll uncover secrets and insights about your life and personality. Written with psychic intuition and charm, each page offers a deep reading into who you are and what your future holds. This item is customized! How cool is that?
Photo credit: From their website
As an affiliate, I have a special discount code that will get you 10% off your purchase. Just use code: ODDBOOKISH10. I have many of their candles and I honestly love them. I am a big astrology and tarot nerd so I love reading the insights on each candle. I haven’t gotten one of their books yet but from what I hear they are wonderful!
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you decide to try one of these out!
Hi beauties! Today I am so excited so share a guest post from author, Belinda Lei. Lei just published her first book, Not THAT Rich, earlier this month. Described as Gossip Girl meets Crazy Rich Asians, this dramatic debut novel is about a group of private high schoolers in an affluent Southern Californian suburb. This book is at the top of my TBR for the new year. As an Asian American, I love reading books about the Asian American experience because representation matters!
Lei’s guest post highlights the need and importance of reading diverse books. As we enter a new year, I hope this post encourages to take stock of your current bookshelf and evaluate how you can do better!
So without further ado, here is Belinda Lei’s post:
“Do the books on your shelf reflect the world you claim you want?” – Kwame Alexander
In early June 2020, I had the pleasure of hearing Kwame Alexander, a prolific NYT Bestselling writer, speak and deliver a magnificent poem during Act To Change’s first Solidarity Convo. As a Managing Director at Act To Change, a nonprofit focused on ending bullying amongst youth and especially in the AAPI community, the importance of increasing diversity, representation, and solidarity amongst communities is often at the forefront of my mind. After all, it’s something that Act To Change works towards every day – addressing bullying in underserved and diverse communities.
However, while the activist in me watched the conversation with a smile, my writer and reader’s voice was screaming at me internally, holding me to account with thoughts of “You’re not doing good enough.” Internal Tiger Mom jokes aside, I’ve always prided myself in being an avid reader of anything and everything under the sun, and I’ve always craved to have characters that reflected my 2nd generation immigrant Chinese American background and identity in the books that I read. Needless to say, I never got that when I was growing up. In my head, sure, it wasn’t ideal that the Baudelaire orphans, Hermoine, Bella, or Katniess weren’t Black, Indeginous, or a person of color (also known as BIPOC), but it was fine.
By writing Not THAT Rich, I wanted to present a set of fun (and dramatic!) experiences that also exposed young adult readers to a cast of characters that reflected my world growing up – one that reflected the ethnic suburban enclaves that were part of my world. My hope for the book is that it emphasizes the diversity of Asian American culture, but also offers up the common challenges that teenagers all experience today – educational and familial pressures, identity struggles, and peer pressure.
I fully acknowledge that as a new author, I still have a lot to learn about the publishing world, and that will take time. However, as a lifelong reader, I can also do better now, today. In my wild pursuit of seeking out books with characters that remind me of me, I’ve neglected to paint the other side of the world that I would like to see more of – books by other BIPOC authors that are not Asian American. I’ve neglected reading more BIPOC voices by so desperately pursuing my own. I’ve made steps towards creating the bookshelf to reflect not just the world that I want, but the world that already exists (highly recommend Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates by the way!) and I hope by reading this post, you’ll consider joining me in looking towards your bookshelf as well.
Belinda Lei is the author of the #1 New Release in YA Asian American Fiction, Not THAT Rich. She’s a Southern California native and an avid reader of all genres from thriller to fantasy — but especially young adult novels. She is a Yale MBA candidate, proud Georgetown Hoya, Managing Director of an anti-bullying non-profit, software engineer, and a former strategy consultant. In her spare time, she can be found cooking, spoiling her chubby cat and grumpy dog, and binge watching dramas.
Hi beauties! So this isn’t exactly bookish but last week I received notice that I was approved to be an affiliate for Birthdate Candles. Birthdate Candles makes specially crafted candles for your birthday. They combine astrology, numerology, and tarot to give you insight into your personality and birthday.
From their website
My candle is May Nineteenth and let me tell you, it smells heavenly! It is cedar, sandalwood, and eucalyptus scented and it smells just like a forest.
If you would like to try this candle out, be sure to use my code ODDBOOKISH10, to save 10%.
As a sensual Taurus, this candle gets my stamp of approval! Plus it makes a great and easy gift for anyone. Who doesn’t love personalized stuff?
Hi beauties! Just wanted to let you all know that Frankly in Love by David Yoon (which I LOVED, check out my review here) is out today!!!
In case you don’t know, Frankly in Love is one of the biggest YA books out this fall. I’ve been seeing it all over blogs and bookstagram. Everyone has been taking about it. It’s been getting some really good reviews too. More than just a romance, it tackles issues such as identity and racism.
You can get your copy TODAY from BOTM YA for just $9.99 with code GROW.
Are you planning on reading this book? Let me know in the comments.
Hi beauties! In case you don’t follow me on Insta, I am now an affiliate for BOTM’s YA subscription. I just got my first book this week. I picked Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi. I had such a hard time choosing since literally all the books sound so amazing!
Since I am an affiliate they sent me some extra goodies like a cookie (which I still haven’t ate since it’s too cute) and pins.
If you would like to join, just click on this link and enter the code GROW to get your first book for just $9.99. What a deal!
Here were this month’s selections:
Amazing right?
Are you a BOTM subscriber? Let me know in the comments!
Hi beauties! I thought it was about time I gave you guys a reading update since I haven’t done one in literally forever. As a law student with no summer job when the semester ended I was like, I have so much time on my hands.I’m going to read all the books! But then something monumentous happened. I developed a crush on Mr. Breathtaking himself, Keanu Reeves.
I’ve always known of Keanu Reeves. I knew he was in Speed and The Matrix. I knew he was part Asian. What I didn’t know was that he was hella hot and such a cool dude.
Basically it all started when I watched Always Be My Maybe. I knew Keanu was in it, but I watched it mainly for Randall Park. When Keanu came on screen I was like, No. No. No. That cannot be Keanu Reeves. Why did no one tell me he was this hot and this funny? How did I miss this? The seed for my crush was planted at that moment.
As pretty much everyone with an internet connection knows, this is the year of Keanu. He’s everywhere. It’s no surprise that my crush on him grew exponentially. Not only is he super good looking at any age, but the more I learned about him, the more I liked him. He’s such a humble and down to earth guy. Like did you know he owns a publishing house called X Artists’ Books and published a poem he wrote called Ode to Happiness? He also owns a motorcycle company called Arch Motorcycle. Talk about getting a guy who can do both. So swoon-worthy.
To satisfy my Keanu Kraving (a term I just coined right now) I decided to watch as many of his movies as possible. Prior to this crush I’ve only watched bits and pieces of Speed and The Matrix; nothing substantial.
As of the writing of this blog post I have watched the following movies that feature Keanu in some capacity:
Always Be My Maybe
Toy Story 4
The Matrix
John Wick
John Wick: Chapter 2
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Destination Wedding
The Neon Demon
SPF-18
Point Break (currently watching)
And I’m just getting started. I still have more movies left on my Keanu binge. As you can see, this cuts into my reading time significantly. I’m not reading as much as I would like to. But I’m 100% okay with that because Keanu Reeves. Enough said.
Have you fallen prey to the Keanussance? Let me know in the comments!
Hi beauties! I am so happy to announce that I have partnered with Dutton Books to giveaway Becoming Dr. Seuss by Brian Jay Jones. The good news is that there will be 5 winners! I haven’t read it yet, but I’m excited to. Like many, I grew up reading Dr. Seuss so I’m curious to know more about the man behind the books.
Here’s the synopsis:
The definitive, fascinating, all-reaching biography of Dr. Seuss.
Dr. Seuss is a classic American icon. Whimsical and wonderful, his work has defined our childhoods and the childhoods of our own children. The silly, simple rhymes are a bottomless well of magic, his illustrations timeless favorites because, quite simply, he makes us laugh. The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, Horton, and so many more, are his troupe of beloved, and uniquely Seussian, creations.
Theodor Geisel, however, had a second, more radical side. It is there that the allure and fasciation of his Dr. Seuss alter ego begins. He had a successful career as an advertising man and then as a political cartoonist, his personal convictions appearing, not always subtly, throughout his books—remember the environmentalist of The Lorax? Geisel was a complicated man on an important mission. He introduced generations to the wonders of reading while teaching young people about empathy and how to treat others well.
Agonizing over word choices and rhymes, touching up drawings sometimes for years, he upheld a rigorous standard of perfection for his work. Geisel took his responsibility as a writer for children seriously, talking down to no reader, no matter how small. And with classics like Green Eggs and Ham, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Geisel delighted them while they learned. Suddenly, reading became fun.
Coming right of the heels off George Lucas and bestselling Jim Henson, Brian Jay Jones is quickly developing a reputation as a master biographer of the creative geniuses of our time.
To enter, just click on the picture above or click here!
I recently realized that I have way too many books. Like too many that I don’t know what to do with them. So I decided to do a massive unhaul. I did an unhaul before, but that was only about 30 books. This time I unhauled over 135 books (don’t know the exact number but it’s at least 135).
My unhaul didn’t happen overnight. I did a gradual unhaul. I first started with books I had recently read but didn’t feel the need to keep.
Then I tackled my massive amount of unread books. For a long time, I used to have a relatively small amount of unread books (between 30-50). At the time I had over 150 unread books and growing everyday (I get a lot of book mail). This caused me to do a massive reality check. I stopped and asked myself, Do I really have time to read all these books? The answer? Hell no! Law school keeps me so busy. There is no possible way I can read all these books anytime soon. I came to the realization that keeping these books on my shelf and never reading them was not doing them any good. So I unhauled a ton of them. I didn’t count, but if I had to estimate, I probably unhauled 40-70 unread books.
I slowly brought these books to my school’s Free Little Library. This Free Little Library is right outside the coffee shop that literally everyone at school goes to. It gets a ton of foot traffic. So far about 95% of the books I put in there are gone. That makes me so happy. Knowing that others are reading and enjoying the books I don’t have time to read is a good feeling.
I also did a massive unhaul of books at my parent’s house. When I moved down for law school, I only brought about half of the books I own. The other half I left at my parent’s house. Most of the books I left are ones that I wasn’t particularly attached to. When I went home for Easter break I decided to unhaul a bunch of them. Many of the unhauled books are ones that I read a few years ago and haven’t picked up since. So why not give them a new home? I ended up unhauling over 80 books. These books I donated to Goodwill.
The unhaul pile at my parent’s house
I’m also trying to limit myself when it comes to free books. I’m trying to say no to more books. I don’t need to say yes to every single Instagram book tour or review request I get offered. I’m very fortunate to be at a place in my blogging/bookstagram career where I am able to get so many books for free, but I don’t need to have ALL the books.
Overall, I am so happy with the amount of books I have given a new home. It feels so good and such a relief to bring my number of unread books down and to just declutter in general.
Do you unhaul books? Tell me about it in the comments!
Hi beauties! I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but (as usual) life got in the way. I’m happy to announce that I have been accepted into Amazon’s Influencer Program. Basically, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product on my page.
On my page, you’ll find curated lists by me of book recommendations organized by genre like historical fiction and poetry. I also have more fun categories like Disney books and superhero novels. I’ll be adding more books soon, so be sure to keep checking it. I’m also thinking about making a list of bookish merch.
Odd and Bookish 