I love discovering random new books and getting book recommendations. So I tried out this site called cratejoy.com that offers subscription boxes (for different categories such as books, fitness and food, etc.).

I obviously ordered a book subscription box, it's called "Bookishly's Tea and Book Club". It offers a vintage book and an assortment of teas (in my case coffee though, thank you for that option). I will review it in about two weeks. The theme this month is "Alice in Wonderland" which had very beautiful vintage editions, so I'm excited. I love a good monthly suprise! 

Cancelling your subscriptions is really easy and I like that you can try out the boxes for a month only. Next I will try out "BookVoyage", a country-themed box with a book and food/drink items from a certain country (the latest boxes were from South Africa and the Netherlands). 

There are more boxes for paper lovers though: there are also stationary sub boxes. But I'm trying to stay strong since I know I would hate whatever I received because I'm so particular about my paper.

Last but not least, I have to let you know about some great finds on cratejoy.com:

1. A monthly period subscription box! It sends you tampons and pads, candy and other fun treats. It's called "MyLadyBug". I don't hate the idea and the reviews were pretty good. But I found it in the "fitness and outdoors" category which suprised me. Because that's about the opposite of my special time of the month!

2. "Shaker & Spoon", a monthly cocktail box with bar worthy recipes and everything you need to make them. I think that would make for a good present, too.

3. Since I often feel like I'm going to end up as a crazy dog person and/or crazy cat lady, I already looked at both "CatLadyBox" and "The Dapper Dog Box" with surprises for you and your pet. You know I would order these.

If you want to know what I'm reading currently, you're not going to get a better summary:

PSA

Ginger tea for mild headaches! Do it!

Reality TV confession

First off, I hate reality tv.

There is usually so much screaming and fighting and it's already hard enough to avoid that in real life. So I don't watch these dating/singing/dancing/reality tv shows. I just don't.
There is one though that I really have come to love: The Challenge!

A bunch of young adults are pitted against each other to win money in the end. Sounds like a lot of fighting? It is! But seeing these people engage in numorous mental and physical challenges really makes me want to do more sports and get better at everything. To be on "The Challenge" you need to be fearless and athletic, both of which I'm definitely not. But I would like to be and this show really inspires me to push some boundaries.
And it's super addicting. I've become so much better at not binge watching shows and only watching 1-2 episodes (max level will power) but I literally watch 3 seasons of "The Challenge" in one sitting. Oh well. I  guess that's also a form of pushing boundaries.

Besides, I've realized that I could hardly do one push up. So I've decided to practice them and I'm up to five now (WHY IS NO ONE IMPRESSED?!?!).

What show weirdly inspires you to get better at something? What reality tv show do you enjoy (secretly of course!)?

Classic literature by women

I love classic literature, especially by women. You can learn a lot about the times (my favorite are books from the 19th century) and the role of women in those times. The only reason I was skipping "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte was its length. I don't mind reasing 600+ pages but if you try to read a book every two weeks then that kind of pagecount is definitely discouraging.

I started reading it a few days ago though and I love it. I love to know how we as a gender have progressed (or not) in terms of education, politics and in society. On one hand I get to appreciate how lucky I am and to be grateful for the opportunities I'm getting. On the other hand it makes me more critical of current issues (which I'm trying to get more involved in).

I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this book in two weeks. I just have a lot of other work to do and I need to socialize because I won't see my grandparents very often. 

But I would love for you to recommend me a classical lit book if you were really impressed by one. 

I wonder if some of you wonder why I even have this blog. If you don't, you won't enjoy this post.

The main reason I started this blog is to keep myself accountable for my reading goal (that worked soooo well, I'm not behind on anything AT ALL!). And that has really helped me through some slumps when I really didn't feel like reading and wanted to give up on this goal entirely. By the way, this is generally good advice if you have a goal. Tell someone about it. You instantly are more likely to meet your goal because you don't just secretly fail. I literally have never reached a goal if I didn't tell anyone about it. I always needed that external pressure and someone who motivated me other than me (even though I am my best cheerleader, I'm glad facebook can't read minds yet).

On the other hand, I'm documenting my thoughts and interests. I love it when after 5-10 years I dig up a diary and I can read what I thought at the time and compare it to how I feel about situations right now. And I know that in ten years I will look back at this blog and probably be embarassed but that's just part of the fun to be honest.

Of course I would love a steady viewership, simply because it's more fun when you know someone's interessted or joining the conversation. But I would be writing this even if no one was watching.

I didn't go to any form of school this past year. For the first time in my life since I was six I didn't have to learn anything or had any assignment deadlines. And I didn't like it. I think to every human learning is simply an essential part of life and if you stop you become unhappy. That's maybe part of the reason I started reading so much.

Anyway, I remembered hearing about this website when I was in college where you are able to take courses on nearly anything: IT, history, journalism, graphic design etc. And a lot of them can be taken for free.

It's called coursera.org

I used it for when I had to learn a few programming languages in a short amount of time and it was great. You have weekly assignments and video lectures. At the end you are able to buy a certificate but that was never my intention.

If you feel like you want to learn a few new skills, go check it out.

Goals are hard

I live in Berlin and I love it there. But I sometimes need to recharge my batteries. Luckily, half of my family lives in the countryside. I will be working at a Coffee shop there (ironically on an ostrich farm, I hate birds) and trying to write more: More blogposts, more on my book, just generally more!

I think I have to keep myself accountable. Because just saying I want to write more is such a vague goal that in the end I don't achieve it. In fact, I usually write even less. I love the human brain!

So here it goes:

I'm going to write 2-3 Blogposts a week in the next 4 weeks (I think that's how long I'm staying there but I'm not sure yet). I'm going to write 1 page a day for my book and I only get to slack off twice a week (come one, I have to set realistic goals here).
I'm also going to write a topical essay once or twice a month. This is because I really need to practice writing. I would love to write and be good at it. But especially in English it's just kind of meh.
On a side note, I'm also going to try to meditate more because I often skip a few days. But it makes me feel so much better, so no skipping days!

Leave me hate on twitter if I fail!

Review

Hey Guys,

it's me, having ideas again.

I love watching tv shows and I often find myself thinking moderately funny thoughts while watching. So I thought it would be cool to review episodes of a series... But I don't know wich one.

I would love for it to either be a current show where week to week we talk about it. Or a classic one, a must-have-seen show, that most people love or love to hate.

I have two shows in mind that kinda fit both categories. But I'll have to watch them again completely which can be a drag and also discouraging. I want to hear your ideas before I reveal what I was thinking of.

6 George Orwell - 1984

I'm way more active on social media than I usually am. I have a twitter account now (@piepoetry) and I'm generally not one to hold back anything personal anyway. Well, that might change.
1984 had a recent rise in sales right after Trump got elected and because I hate to be left out I bought it as well.

It takes place in London, part of the totalitarian state Oceania, where Big Brother is watching you. We get to know Winston who is in great danger because he doubts his party and the methods it's using to keep its residents in check. He involves himself in a secret love affair and with a group called The Brotherhood who wants to destroy the party.

George Orwell (whose actual name is Eric Arthur Blair) really emerges the reader in this grim world. He explains in great detail how they change the past by editing every piece of information until it matches their current motives, how they simplify the language, how they keep the masses uneducated, how everyone knows it can't be right but goes with it anyway, how good propaganda can manipulate people and why it is so important to care. Of course this is fiction but I do see the ties to recent events. Orwell likes political writing and he does it well. He combines creativity with a fair warning.

It definitely made me realize that I often disagree with policies but think "well, what am I gonna do about it". And it shames me, really.
This book is engaging and it at least made me cover all my front cameras. It's definitely worth the read and it made me want to join a disscussion group to really fathom all  the details and themes in this book.

I give it 9 out of 10 CreepyTrumps. We're all doomed!

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I'm also really behind with my blogposts and I'm trying! I'm currently trying to write a book on my own but I often lack motivation or stamina. If you'd like to know what it's about, let me know. I could propably also use your help. You can contact me over instagram or twitter. xoxo