Quick Update + Be Back Soon

I'm taking the week off, and maybe a bit more time, to stay caught up on graduate school homework¹ and to try to get my health in order. I spent most of September dealing with vertigo, and now I've been having a lot of stress-related health issues. So, I'm slowly trying to figure out what the main sources of stress are in my life (one probably being school) and how to work around them so I can stay healthy. Any tips on how you de-stress would be helpful!

In the meantime, be sure to check out my review of ATLANTIA by Ally Condie (and see my 7 Reasons To Read ATLANTIA post) and enter to win an ARC + necklace (international)!

I'll likely be hanging around Twitter (@YABookQueen) on and off, so you can always find me there. I hope you are all doing well! 

1 Seriously, you should see the amount of reading I have for one of my classes: 112 poems (I will forever curse those who write ridiculously long poems), 9 novels, 10 short stories, 4 essays, 2 plays (which are thankfully both by Shakespeare), and 15 scholarly essays. Grad school keeps you busy! My school reading schedule is insane, but I'm working through it and learning so much.

Grad School, Earthquakes, & A Short Blogging Break

Hey everyone! 

I began grad school this week, so I'm finding myself a bit swamped as I try to adjust to my schedule  and work load (I have so much reading to do, it's crazy). My classes are so small compared to what I'm normally used to, and the reading assignments are a bit more time consuming. But, I'm excited for the semester! 

In other news, this morning some areas of California were rocked by a 6.1 earthquake. I woke around 3:20ish in the morning to the world shaking wildly, books flying off my bookshelf and book tower, and it was a pretty startling way to start today. It even knocked out the power in my area for about five hours. I honestly can't remember the last time I felt an earthquake shaking my house as strongly as this one did. Luckily, the only damage was hardly worth noticing - some fallen books, a bit of broken glass, and nothing more. My thoughts are with everyone who had a more intense experience this morning, and I hope they are all okay. 

Considering the busy week and this crazy morning, I think I'll take off a week from blogging. I might still hang around Twitter, but otherwise, I won't be back until next week. 

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe! Have a great week. 

-Lea

(Another) Blogging Break: Taking Two Weeks Off

I'm a bit busy right now with my college classes¹, so I decided to take the next two weeks off in order to finish all of the papers I need to write. I'll make sure to write up some reviews and interesting posts too, so I can come back with plenty of content to share! I'll try to hang around Twitter, so you can likely catch me there for brief amounts of time. 

Hope everyone is having a lovely day! 

1 So many essays and a mountain of reading - the joys of being an English major ;)

Slowing Things Down and Taking a Step Back

Hey everyone!

I've been having some health concerns for the last three weeks, and I finally managed to meet with my doctor a few days ago. Apparently, all of my current health problems are being caused by stress, and I was told to take it easy and try to cut out as much stress in my life as possible. 

Unfortunately, since I can't exactly take a break from all of my school/college stress (darn it), I'm going to have to slow things down with the blog instead. While blogging may be so much fun, it can also be extremely stressful for me. It bothers me to have to push blogging to the side, since I love it so much, but I need to focus on my health right now.

So, I'm going to be slowing things down and taking a step back from YA Book Queen for the rest of October and possibly November (we'll see). However, I will still have my posts for the Silk and Paper campaign (and my contest) each Monday. But, for the rest of October, those posts are likely going to be the only ones going up on YA Book Queen until I start feeling better. I'll hopefully get my stress level down and health back in order soon!

Also, out of curiosity, do any of you have any de-stressing tips?

Hope you all are having a fabulous October so far,