Oh ew, my blog is so old now! Just kidding, I still have many years to go with this blog, three years is nothing. This blogiversary is a little different though, as you can tell. Besides the fact that this post is helllllaaaa late, big changes have also come to this blog. It is honestly the right time for this change but here it is: Next Page Please is no longer a book blog. I explain more about it below but it was time for a change in this blog and I am super excited about it.

So...why the change?

You probably didn’t know this but I first started blogging when I was 12. At the time I was obsessed with reading so I was like, why not? I spent a few months on Weebly, writing terrible reviews and mainly posting promotional posts. When I was still at Weebly, my blog was called “Kaitlin’s World.” Kaitlin’s World….sounds like a lifestyle blog doesn’t it? I thought about focusing my blog on lifestyle for a few days but then decided that my life wasn’t really interesting enough for a lifestyle blog. I mean, what was there to talk about in my life other than books? So I just went with the book blog for the next three years.

Now, I’m almost 15 and I’ve been doing this “books only” thing for three years now. Lot’s has changed in three years, considering how young I was when I first started this. This past year itself has been fluctuating when it came to my motivation to read and you’ve heard me say this before but my motivation to blog is a direct correlation with my motivation to read. If I’m reading some great books and finding things to read that I genuinely want to read, then I’ll want to blog more. But that can easily come to a stop when I read a book that throws me into an emotional hangover or I become busy. That’s where some months, there will be 3 or 4 posts out.

It’s a cycle, and I had come to recognize this cycle. And honestly? I hate it. I hate this cycle of me leaving and then coming back just to kind of slowly go away a few months later. So this time around, this time I’m not letting the cycle happen again.

“Kaitlin’s World” was a name that I didn’t end up sticking with (obviously). But I think now is the time to bring Kaitlin’s World to Next Page Please. I want to be able to talk about more things on this blog, not just books because my life is no longer just books. I travel, I try new foods, I obsess over shows and being able to write and talk about these things that aren’t books will allow me to just be more consistent with this blog.

When I was first starting out with this whole blogging ordeal, I read that you should keep your blog specific to a topic. You blog about fashion, you stick to fashion, you blog about DIY projects, you stick to DIY projects. Of course, I was young and a rookie so I listened to that advice. I solely blogged about books. That worked for awhile but now? It doesn’t work for me anymore. Sure, this blog may be more of a mess due to this change and I will be talking less about books, which is probably what you signed up for but at least I will have the motivation to blog again and I will be writing about topics that I might want to write more about compared to books. Plus, it allows you to see more into my life and the things that I like. I’m no celebrity or anything so I highly doubt many people will care about my life but I have come to really love this community. I didn't want to blog about just books anymore, which is why I am opening up Next Page Please to more aspects of my life. It's definitely going to be a new thing for me but I am excited about where it will take me and also what kind of posts I will be posting here.

I want to thank everyone who has stuck with my blog through these years, even if you just found my blog today, thank you for visiting my little corner. My motivation hasn't always allowed this blog to be consistent with posts but I really do enjoy blogging, which is why I'm not about to let it go because I don't have the motivation anymore.

Also, I have more super exciting new, I have joined the Twirling Pages team! I've been such a huge fan of Xan and her blog so when she was looking for co-bloggers I definitely wanted to apply. And I was accepted! I am super excited to be writing for Twirling Pages now so you can also find posts from me there.

I hope you all enjoy this little relaunch of Next Page Please. Please let me know what you think of it and ready yourself for some fresh new content!

Girl Out of Water

I think the thing that really intrigued me about this book was the fact that the love interest for the Anisa, Lincoln, is disabled! I honestly don't think I read enough books with characters who are disabled so I was super excited to read this book. Also, it seemed like a super cute summer read so I was pretty excited for another summer-y read. All in all, I really enjoyed it. I think the book had a few flaws but it's a super cute read. Definitely a great read if you're looking for a book with summer vibes.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the characters. Not only do I really love the main character, but also the side characters. I think Anise had really great dynamics and relationships with the side characters: her cousins, her aunt, her dad, Lincoln, and other characters. I really admired how persistent and competitive she is and is kind of a perfectionist. Also, she really cared about her friends and owned up to her mistakes, which I also really liked about her. I definitely think there were so many facepalm moments in this book and I liked how Silverman wrote her as a flawed character who later realizes the mistakes she makes.

Alex and Eliza

Hamilton. Talk to me about Hamilton and I could go on for hours. I'm going to admit, I jumped on the Hamilton train pretty late on, right before it got big. And like everyone who has fallen into the Hamilton hole, I fell hard. Like the obsession was very real.

I found out about this book between two of my classes in a NetGalley email and usually I delete NetGalley emails without opening them because I've been trying not to accumulate too many eARCs this year but just don't have the motivation to actually unsubscribe to the emails. (I don't mind getting them either) So I almost deleted the email but it was one of those double-take moments where I glanced at the title but then finally acknowledged and processed what I had just glanced at a few seconds later. "Alex and Eliza." So I opened the email and holy crap! Right before my eyes was a book about Hamilton and Eliza! The eARC was already on NetGalley and I think my first thought was "Why am I just finding out about this book now?" Hamilton is big, so the fact that this book wasn't really talked about kinda surprised me.

okay but how am i just finding about this alexander hamilton x eliza schuyler ya novel from @MelissadelaCruz

— Kaitlin (@NextPagePlease_) February 24, 2017

Okay so, as you can tell, this blog has kind of been dead. So has my twitter. This happens every year as my motivation to read dramatically fluctuates through the year. (Motivation to read = motivation to blog) Honestly, I'm so sick of this blog dying for a few months and then me coming back to bring it back to life for a few months and then this happening in a cycle. So, I'm going to make some changes. No word on what it will be yet but I have an idea on what I want to do. Summer is coming so I will have more time to be blogging! Anyway, hang tight, I'll be back in July for my blogiversary and change. :)