Semi-Charmed Winter 2015 Book Challenge

photo via @megtristao

It's time for the next installment of the Semi-Charmed Book Challenge series! Whether you are a newcomer to the challenge or a repeat reader, I am excited to have you here today. Continue reading after the jump for the winter challenge rules and categories.

Banned Books Week 2015: A Photo Challenge!

Banned Books Week is coming up at the end of the month, and I'm celebrating with my third annual Banned Books Week photo challenge! :)



I'm changing the hashtag to #bbwphotoaday this year (#bookphotoaday seems to have been appropriated by other forces), and I hope to see many of you join in on Instagram and Twitter! As usual, I'll be featuring my favorite photos on my Instagram account and here on the blog. Please feel free to share the above image on your blog or Instagram if you plan to play along!

What is your favorite banned book?

P.S. — If you love Instagram and books, check out these fun bookish hashtags while you wait for this photo challenge to begin!

Summer 2015 Book Challenge: Final Scoreboard

Welcome to the final scoreboard for the Semi-Charmed Summer 2015 Book Challenge! Continue reading after the jump for final scores and information on the next challenge. :)

5 Bookish Hashtags to Explore on Instagram

It's no secret that I love Instagram. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time exploring the community, and my favorite posts are definitely travel photos and bookstagrams. Today I'm sharing five hashtags that I particularly enjoy exploring on any given day. :)

photo via @megtristao

1. #currentlyreading | This was the first "bookish" hashtag I discovered on Instagram. It gets a lot of use, so there are always new photos to scroll through.

Summer 2015 Book Challenge: Month 4

The summer 2015 book challenge is now over! Thanks to everyone who participated. Be sure to check in on this post by September 7 to be included in the final scoreboard, to be posted on September 10. Continue reading after the jump for the current scoreboard and check-in instructions. Also, either my math was really off the morning I prepared this post, or there were quite a few check-in posts that didn't match up with their points and their categories. So, if I made a mistake below with your total, I'm sorry! If you think your total below is incorrect, please post your complete reading list with your final check-in and I'll be sure the final scoreboard is correct. :)

Discovering new blogs: A giveaway!

Good morning all! I hope your Saturday is filled with watching football, sipping coffee, reading, hanging out with friends, soaking up the last rays of summer, and/or whatever else makes you happy. AND, I hope this chance to win $100 makes your Saturday a little better! ;)

Allie from Call Me Sassafras contacted me this past month to pitch an idea: A giveaway where participants not only needed to mindlessly click through social media links to join, but actually had to get to know us a little better in the process. Doesn't that sound fun? Plus, it's a great way to find new blogs! I've been reading Call Me Sassafras for as long as I can remember, and Allie is always funny and honest and writes about neat topics that I can't find anywhere else in my Bloglovin' feed (e.g. useful science!). In fact, you should definitely check out her giveaway post today, which includes four easy and effective ways to discover new blogs.

And now, for the main dish, here is the blog scavenger hunt to help you discover and love some new blogs!

Giveaway! A picture is worth a thousand words.

A few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn I had been voted the "Bookish Babe Blogger" for Angie's annual Best of Blog awards! As part of my award, Angie graciously offered me free ad space on her blog and the chance to participate in her monthly sponsor giveaway. This month, the prize is an adorable Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. :) Continue reading after the jump for giveaway details.

6 Ways to Make Your Mornings More Productive

Morning is an important time. It sets the tone for your entire day, and it's home to the best meal ever (see #5 below). Since I went back to school and changed jobs last year, I've been spending a lot of time at home, so a morning routine has become more important than ever to start my day off right. Today, I'm sharing five six easy tips to help make your mornings more productive as well!



1. Don't use the snooze button. Pretty self explanatory, right? Does anyone really feel better after getting 15 extra minutes of half-sleep in the morning? I know I don't.

I like my Instagram feed pretty and filtered.

Good morning, my name is Megan, and I'm addicted to Instagram.



But really.

I love Instagram. I love looking at the gorgeous book flatlays created by Instartists like Ursula and Andie. I love adding to my never-ending wanderlust list when I see where Christie and Jenna have traveled lately. I love learning fun facts from the National Archives and American History Museum, among others. I love keeping up with friends from college through filtered and perfectly cropped squares, and I love seeing the final results of 'grammers taking 23 pictures of their lattes to make sure they captured the foam just right.



I know there has been a lot of buzz—especially in the blogosphere—about Instagram putting pressure on people to have "perfect lives," but I don't feel that way at all. Yes, sometimes when I see the vibrant colors on Melyssa's account or the crisp white stills from Helene, I wish I had fun little office accessories to photograph. But to be completely honest, if someone were to share unfiltered photos of boring, everyday things, or used Instagram to complain about what was going wrong in his/her life, I probably wouldn't follow that user. I like my Instagram feed to be full of positive, beautiful things. Is that so bad? I agree those photos shouldn't be at the expense of honesty, but I don't see why those two ideas have to be mutually exclusive.



Are you an Instagram user? What are your thoughts?

Linking up with Kenzie and Angie for their August 12x30 Challenge: photo a day! All photos in this post are my Instagram photos for the challenge.

My Top 10 Most-Read Authors

It's been a while since I've done a Top 10 Tuesday post with The Broke and the Bookish, and Goodreads makes today's theme so easy! So here are the 10 authors I've read the most books from (since 2008, when I started using Goodreads, unless the book was one of my favorites so I added it anyway, e.g. Harry Potter or The Bridge to Terabithia):