Tag: 2021

January 2021 Reading List

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Happy New Year everyone!! Today I get to move into my new bullet journal which is so exciting, and I also can’t wait to share what I’m going to be reading this month because I have some LEGIT books lined up. No joke.

I did end up finishing my 2020 Reading Challenge so I’m really happy about that! Here are the books I read last year to complete it:

I started reading Shantaram in December with the intention of using it for the “Set In Asia” prompt, as it’s set in India, but it’s over 900 pages long and I only gave myself about two weeks to read it. So no, I did not end up finishing, but I looked back and saw that I read Lion last January, which is also mostly set in India, so we’re all good. Before I start any of the books on my January reading list though, I am going to finish Shantaram. I think I have around 400 pages to go, so hopefully I’ll be done by the end of this first week of the month and then I can start on some other reads! Shantaram is pretty good so far though I like it a lot, it’s just a long one:)

This reading list features two books that I got for Christmas (upon request), and one book that I got a while back but didn’t have the chance to read because I was busy with my challenge. Something that I started last year is just keeping a running list of books that I want to read in my phone, and adding and removing as I need to. This is good because whenever I go to the bookstore I AM READY, and it also helps me with my Reading Challenge because I know which books I need to read. The first two books on my list were on that TBR page in my notes. I’m really excited to read all of the books I have picked out for this month because I’ve heard great things about all of them, so it should be a really good time:) Here’s my January Reading List!

The Song of Achilles

I love Greek mythology so much, and so anything that weaves it in in some way has an automatic draw for me. Last year I read a novel called Circe, which was so good that it made it onto my list of Favourite Books of 2020. It was a retelling of the goddess Circe’s story, and I just couldn’t put it down! It was also the author’s, Madeline Miller’s, second novel. Her first is The Song of Achilles. It’s a tells the story of Achilles and Patroclus; two princes, one exiled and one perfect, and how they grow up together. Their relationship develops and is tested through the Trojan War. This novel has amazing reviews and is right up my alley so I can’t wait to get into it.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

This looks like it’s going to be a really deep, intense read, but I’m ready for it. It tells the story of Lale, a Slovakian Jew, who is forcibly taken to the concentration camp at Auschwitz and is tasked with tattooing the numbers on his fellow prisoners. He witnesses both acts of atrocity and amazing courage, and also tries to do his best to give what help he can to those that are suffering. After a couple of years, he meets Gita, a prisoner who comes in to be tattooed, and vows to one day escape and marry her. It also has great reviews, and I feel like it’s one of those books that you should read at least once in your life. It’s also based on a true story, so it takes care of that prompt in my Reading Challenge!

Death On The Nile

I’m assuming that I’m going to blast through both The Song of Achilles and The Tattooist of Auschwitz, so I’m giving myself A Death on the Nile to read as well this month. This was the book that wasn’t on my list and that I got a while ago, but I’m still really excited to read it! I read my first Agatha Christie Novel, And Then There Were None, last year and loved how suspenseful it was. It was also a really quick read, so I think this one will be as well. It’s part of her Hercule Poirot series, her most famous detective, and follows him as he solves the mystery of a young woman shot dead on a Nile River Cruise. This should be a short and fun read, and I’m looking forward to it!

I hope you got a little book inspiration from this list! I’m so excited to start reading these and will defintely let you know how I like them- check out my Instagram page @mydayisbooked_24 to stay updated!

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)))

2021 Reading Challenge

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Hey there! This is going to be a heavy week for posting because I have so much to share with you guys before the new year! I think I’m going to have something coming out that’s either book-related or bullet journal related very day so stay tuned. Yesterday I posted my 2021 Bullet Journal Set-Up which turned out so great; make sure to check it out! Today we’re going over my reading challenge for the year, which is probably one of the most fun pages in my journal.

I started doing this reading challenge thing last year, and I’m IN LOVE with it! Unfortunately I didn’t think of doing it until around the second week of January, so it wasn’t included in my 2020 Set-Up, but was within the month of January in my bullet journal. But this year I knew for sure that I wanted to do it again, so I made sure to include it in the very first pages. To match the rest of my 2021 Set-Up, I went with these yellow and grey boxes, with a cute title written in white ink on kraft paper in the centre.

This is unrelated but hat little crinkle in the bottom left corner really bugs me. Annnnyways, how the challenge works is basically I have to read one book that fulfils each of the prompts. So, for example, I have to read a book that is yellow, a book written by an immigrant, a book that was turned into a TV series, and so on and so forth. I don’t fill them out in any particular order, I just make sure that they all get done! Since it’s 2021 I gave myself 21 prompts to complete! Last year I had 20, and I felt like this was a good number because it still let me read some books that didn’t necessarily work for my reading challenge.

I loved doing a challenge like this last year because it just broadened my reading horizons so much! I read so many books that I would have otherwise never found out about, which was something that I really enjoyed. Reading is amazing because it allows you to learn so much about different people’s perspectives and the human experience as a whole, and so keeping your TBR list eccentric and surprising really maximizes your exposure to new ideas. This year I’m hoping to go even more outside my comfort zone and read some more awesome books! Definitely feel free to come along on this challenge with me to check out some reads that you usually wouldn’t pick up.

Be sure to look at my Instagram page throughout the year, because that’s where I share the most updates on what I’m reading and how it fits into this challenge. I’ll also fill you in during my monthly reading lists if you’re looking for inspiration and can’t seem to fill a prompt! Here’s my full reading challenge if you’re looking to follow along:)

2021 Reading Challenge

Read a book….

  • On Nutrition
  • That Is A Biography
  • With A Number In The Title
  • With A Map
  • That Has 2 Authors
  • With Less Than 210 Pages
  • That Is Yellow
  • That Is An Award Winner
  • That Is Based On A True Story
  • That Was Published Anonymously
  • That Was Turned Into A TV Series
  • Written By A Nobel Prize Winner
  • Written By An Immigrant
  • On Personal Development
  • About Theology
  • Set In Australia
  • About A Historical Figure
  • With a 1 Word Title
  • Written Before 1921
  • Translated From Arabic
  • Released In 2021

Hope you decide to go through with this challenge with me! Let me know if you do in the comments or on Instagram (mydayisbooked_blog). It’s going to be a fun time! See you tomorrow with another post:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))

2021 Bullet Journal Set-Up

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Hey guys! Hope you all had an amazing holiday!! I’m really excited for today’s post because it’s my 2021 BULLET JOURNAL SET-UP!!!!! I received a new bullet journal for Christmas and had so much fun creating my spreads for the new year. Opening up a new journal is always so satisfying, and I can’t wait for the fresh start that this journal is going to help me with in 2021✨

If this is your first year bullet journaling, a bullet journal is basically a planner, diary, mood and habit tracker and scrapbook all in one! I go a bit more in depth about what bullet journaling is all about in my very first set-up in 2018, and I also have a whole post on How I Use My Bullet Journal which is very helpful if you’re just starting, so be sure to check those out:) Plus, if you’re looking for more inspiration make sure to take a look at my 2019 and 2020 set-ups as well:))

This year I’m using a Leuchtturm 1917 journal for the third time because I really love the quality; it’s hardcover, has numbered pages, a pocket at the back, and it’s not too expensive! This is also the only journal I can find that has at least 240 pages. I like to give myself 20 pages per month and be able to fit the whole year in one journal, so the amount of pages in the Leuchtturm 1917 is great🙌 For 2021 I chose their Lemon yellow colour🥰 It’s pretty bright, but yellow is one of my favourite colours and I thought that it would bring some positive vibes into this year which we all need!

I know that lots of people like to keep their beginning-of-the-year spreads pretty neutral, but last year I brought in some olive green because my journal was an olive green colour, and it looked really good. So this year I decided to use some yellow in my 2021 set-up and I love how it turned out!! I paired it with a nice light grey. Actually yellow and grey are two of the Pantone colours of the year as well, so look at me go! As is hinted at by the cover of my journal, I used a lot of brown kraft paper in these spreads as well, and wrote over it with a white gel pen. I got a whole roll of this stuff on Amazon for like five bucks and it was TOTALLY worth it- it looks so good! And then I also used some washi tape because the one I have is neutral and it’s a great way to fill in empty space. The markers I used throughout this spread were a bright yellow Tombow Dual Brush Pen in the shade 055, a light grey Zebra Mildliner, my Faber Castell fineliners, and my Sakura Gelly Roll 08 gel pen.

On the inside cover I glued in some simple little spacing cheat sheets. These are great for when I’m making any sort of spread and need to know how to divide up the page without doing the math or counting every single time. There are some great resources on how to use a whole page to make a more elaborate cheat sheet; I love AmandaRachLee on Youtube! But I like this simple and I don’t feel like I need to use up a whole page for it. I decorated with a cute little olive branch motif on that brown kraft paper, which is something you’ll see me use a lot throughout this set-up!

Then on the opposite page I wrote out my name and contact info, and a little quote/personal motto:)

This journal also comes with a pre-made index, which is really nice! I don’t keep track of every single page in my journal, but I did write out which pages I’m using for which months. I wrote out my own title, and I love the way that the yellow and grey work together! There is still some space on those grey lines to keep track of more spreads if I want to. There were two more pages that had indexes on them, but I think I’ll just either glue those together or leave them blank.

Here’s page 1 in my journal! I did a nice 2021 title page with a border of kraft paper that has some of those olive branch doodles on it. I wrote out 2021 in a simple, yellow font, and then actually wrote out the words twenty twenty-one as well. On the opposite page there’s my key. I pretty much kept the same key as last year because I found that it works really well for me! But there are so many options that you can use when it comes to bullet shapes and pen colours to differentiate between tasks and keep you organized. I used a stencil to draw out a key on that kraft paper for decoration as well.

This next spread is my future log! This is where I write down all the events that are coming up for the year; like birthdays, future appointments, or exam dates. The little calendars I drew out are also helpful when I’m setting up my monthly spreads. This year I was inspired by AmandaRachLee to try something really cool. I cut the edges of the page in between two spreads so that it’s like a little door that you can flip back and forth. This way you only have to write out one title, and it also makes the whole thing feel more cohesive because instead of splitting this between two spreads, it’s like it’s only one spread. I used kraft paper for those olive branch doodles, and also to write out the calendars. This spread is super functional and super cute- which is great combo when it comes to bullet journaling!

Next up is my goals/”this year” spread. I drew out a big 2021 in the centre on kraft paper, which I LOVE. On the left side I have some boxes to write down my goals for the year, which I split into school, fitness, blog and personal. Then on the right I have a space to do a bit of journaling before the year begins. I wrote some prompts that will help me to get focused on what I want to achieve this year. It’s great to have some goals to work on over the course of the year- whether you’re using a bullet journal or not. I love these pages so much and can’t wait to fill them in!

This spread took me a while to figure out because I knew that I wanted some sort of blogging spread at the beginning of my journal, but just didn’t know what that would look like. But now that I’m finished I’m so so happy with the way that this looks! I wrote out “My Day Is Booked Dashboard” on that kraft paper and used it as a tile, and then wrote 2021 in yellow beside that. Beneath the title on the left page, I have a chart where I can track all of my blog and Instagram stats. Last year I tracked these monthly in my monthly recaps, but because I was often behind on those monthly recaps I couldn’t get an accurate count of my Instagram growth. So this will allow me to write down everything right away. Then on the next page I have lots of space to write down both blog and Instagram ideas, and I made such a cute little envelope out of my kraft paper to hold any extra notes that I might have! Maybe I’ll do a tutorial on Instagram reels on how to make one! I’ll write that down in my ideas section:) Even if you don’t have a blog, a page like this can still be very helpful for work or school. Make it your own!

These are the last two pages of my set-up:) Of course I had to include a 2021 reading challenge- I enjoyed the one I did last year so much! I’ll have a whole other post dedicated to this coming out soon. Then on the opposite page I wrote out a quote, because I love to have one to start off the year. My quote this year is “What the New Year brings to you depends a lot on what you bring to the New Year.” This really resonated with me because it reminds me that it’s important to have a positive attitude, work hard and give it your all! I did another of those kraft paper borders to surround this page.

And that concludes my 2021 Set-Up!! I’m so excited to fill all of these spreads in, and I love how they make me feel ready to take on the world in 2021. I hope that you found some inspiration in this post and that you have fun setting up your own journal! Don’t forget to check out my past set-ups if you want to see more spread ideas, and feel free to ask me any questions you have about bullet journaling! Stay tuned for my January 2021 Set-Up coming up soon:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))