Wanderlust Wednesday: Just a Lil' Lost's Paris Month

Check out my previous Wanderlust Wednesday posts

For the last few years, my friend and fellow blogger Michele from Just a Lil' Lost has dedicated the month of April to all things Paris. I've followed along, enjoyed her posts, pictures, reviews, and guest features, and this year I get to be part of it! I'm so honoured to have had the opportunity to do a guest post for Paris Month this year.

Michele's new banner for Paris Month - isn't it pretty?

I've been to Paris twice now, and since both visits were short I decided to share tips for a quick trip to Paris. There's so much to see and do in the City of Light, so if you're only going to be there for a few days, it's good to have a plan. Besides sharing my tips, I also shared a few pictures, plus a giveaway of an Eiffel Tower keychain I bought specially in Paris last June for one lucky person.

Check out my post: 3 Tips for 3 Days in Paris, and be sure to check out all of Michele's other amazing posts this month. 

Here are a couple of the pictures I included in my post, just to give you a sneak peek:

And this is the Eiffel Tower keychain (along with some cute Eiffel Tower stickers) I'm giving away at Michele's blog!

Be sure to check out my guest post, plus the rest of Michele's Paris Month posts!

Have you been following along with Michele's Paris Month? Do you have a favourite post? Have you visited Paris? What were some of your favourite things to see and do? If you haven't been to Paris, is it on your travel wishlist?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish People You Should Follow on Instagram

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

When I saw this week's topic - top ten bookish people you should follow on Twitter/Instagram/wherever, I knew immediately I'd feature some of my favourite bookstagrammers. I've been on Instagram for two years now (I actually just went back in my feed to see when I joined and was surprised when I saw my first pic was posted March 22nd, 2014), and while it started out as a mixed bag of pictures, it slowly morphed into a mostly bookish account, and now I try to keep it all book-related (which is why I just recently started a separate account for personal pics, since I miss sharing everyday types of pictures). So today I'm featuring thirteen of my favourite bookstagrammers!

mizgillianberry

Gillian isn't just one of my favourite Instagrammers, she's also one of my favourite online people, period. I love her blog and I regularly stalk her Twitter feed. She's hella funny and creative, we like a lot of the same things, and I'm always swooning over the pics of her bookshelves, wall art, pillows, and travels. Plus some of her amazing designs are on Society6, and I just recently bought a mug with her Ravenclaw design. It's perfection!

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eviebookish

Evie is another of my favourite bloggers and designers. Her Society6 shop is a book lover's dream come true. I got a #Bookstagram mug last month and my bestie joked one day that she could tell I really liked it, and I said 'why, because it's been in almost all my pictures since it arrived?' Seriously though, it's so beautiful!

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lisa_lostinlit and lostinlit_becca

This sisters-in-law/friend duo run the blog Lost in Literature, plus each have their own gorgeous Instagram accounts. This month they're doing their first monthly photo challenge, and I'm so happy! You can find it by using the #LILBookishApril hashtag. 

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 stephscottya 

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 thereaderbee

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 bokhjerte

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bookloversnest

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_halfbl00dprincess

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celinereads

 

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bookloverforeverandalways

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hayaisreading

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bookbaristas

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So, those are thirteen of my favourite bookstagram accounts. Want to see one more? Why not check out mine?

sweetmarie_83

Are you on Instagram? If you are, be sure to leave your username so I can visit you! What are your favourite bookish accounts? If you did TTT this week, be sure to leave a link to your post so I can visit in return!

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Monthly Recap: January 2016

Happy February, my lovelies! January alternately flew and dragged for me. Here's a recap of the month:

~ In Real Life ~

I kicked off 2016 with my mum and youngest nephew. We had a little party at home with lots of snacks and movies, and we watched the ball drop in Time's Square at midnight. Right after midnight, someone set off fireworks nearby, so we watched those from the window, which was fun. It was a great night - one I'll definitely remember for a long time.

As for the rest of the month...not so great. It's been a rollercoaster for a lot of reasons, none of which I'll go into, but let's just say I wished multiple times for a reset button on the year. Hopefully February will be better!

~ On the blog ~

• I started the year by taking a look back on 2015, in which I shared three big things I learned last year, plus shared my hopes for 2016.

• I started a new monthly feature with my friend Jessica from  Thoughts at One in the Morning called Thoughts and Daydreams. Our first topic was Getting Back to Basics, and we talked about simplifying things in regards to reading and blogging. Be sure to watch for our second post on February 5th!

• I participated in the Clean Slate Read-a-thon hosted by Novel Ink, Lost in Lit and Latte Nights Reviews, and I managed to read three books, plus participate in all three mini challenges.

• I reviewed With Every Breath by Lia Riley (4 stars), The Turning Point by Marie Meyer (4 stars), The Distance From A to Z by Natalie Blitt (4 stars), The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall (4 stars), Royal Marriage Market by Heather Lyons (4 stars), From Bad to Wurst by Maddy Hunter (4 stars), and Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway (5 stars). 

• On the last Monday of the month, I started participating in Lovin' Los Libros's weekly meme, The Monday Musts. The idea is to share a must-read book, a must-listen song/artist/album, and something that's a must see - TV show, movie, picture, blog, etc.

• I'm participating in the 2016 Contemporary Romance Challenge, and I did the monthly topic, which was Top Ten Most Anticipated Romances for the First Half of 2016.

~ Books Read in January ~

• The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

• Summerfall by Claire Legrand

• The Turning Point by Marie Meyer

• The Distance From A to Z by Natalie Blitt

• Jewel of the Thames by Angela Misri

• Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

• From Bad to Wurst by Maddy Hunter

• Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul

• Complementary and Acute by Ella Lyons

• The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin

• Chasing Spring by RS Grey

~ Favourite Books of January ~

January was a fantastic reading month for me - I enjoyed everything I read, which is incredibly rare, especially considering the number of books I read. Out of all of them, The Abyss Surrounds Us and Emmy & Oliver were my top favourites.

How was your January? Any highlights? What was the best book you read? Do you have a favourite blog post (feel free to link me to it in the comments so I can check it out)?

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5 Days of Angel Island Day 2: Pictures Inspired by the Series

This week is the release of The Complete Angel Island Series, a box set that includes all three of my Angel Island companion novels, Waiting for the Storm, After the Storm, and Take Them by Storm. For this week only you can get the set for just $2.99 - that's all three books for the price of one! If you're curious about the series and haven't started it yet, or if you've read one but not the other two, now would be a great time to give them a try!

To celebrate the release of the box set, I'm dedicating this week to posts about the series. Yesterday I kicked things off with fun facts about the series and today I'm sharing pictures inspired by the books.

 

Waiting for the Storm starts out in Toronto, with Charlotte at her mother's funeral. Soon after, she, her dad, and her sister leave for Angel Island. The family stops in Kingston before taking the ferry, and they eat at an Irish pub and restaurant called Tir Nan Og, which is a real place. It's beautiful inside and makes you feel like you've been transported to Ireland, so it's one of my favourite places. Plus it's supposedly haunted. ;-)

This is the Wolfe Island ferry, but it's basically the type of ferry Charlotte and her family would take to get back and forth from the mainland to the island.

View from the ferry

 

Charlotte and her family are from Toronto. At one point in Waiting for the Storm, she and Ezra go to Toronto so Charlotte can check on their house. She tells Ezra she's never been up in the CN Tower, and he says they should do it some day...and then decides 'someday' should be that day, so they go up...

 

...And after a lot of convincing, Ezra gets Charlotte onto the glass floor at the top. Living a couple hours away from Toronto, I've seen the CN Tower my whole life, but I didn't go up until the year I wrote Waiting for the Storm. It took me forever to work up the courage to get on the glass floor. It was terrifying and exhilarating, and I was so proud of myself. Charlotte has anxiety, so this was a big moment for her in the book, one I loved writing and still love reading.

Charlotte, Ella, and Sadie on the beach. (Actually me and a couple friends.)

This is on Amherst Island. I was standing inside the cemetery where some of my ancestors are buried.

River's last name is Maracle. Since I live a few minutes outside the reserve, Maracle is a common name in this area. This was a huge mural on the wall opposite the library. I got a picture of it just in time a year or two ago - it was gone soon after.

A tower of rocks in a field in Tyendinaga, the Mohawk reserve where River is from

A macaron *insert heart eyes and drooly face here* Sadie's friend Jo in Take Them by Storm is French and loves macarons. It's a special little thing she and Sadie share.

Buy The Complete Angel Island Series now

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I hope you enjoyed these pictures inspired by the Angel Island series! Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 3 of Angel Island posts.

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