• Books,  Favourites

    Why I cancelled my readathon last year // Why it’s back!

    As you might have noticed by my pinned current tweet on my Twitter, I have advertised my month-long readathon, that I created September last year.

    I came up with the idea while trying to think of a book series I would like to read, along side a children’s series. “The Chronicles of Narnia” does both.

    I decided that over the space of a month it is plenty of time to read the short 7 book series and it will get people reading again as it is a simple level to start back up reading.

    Sadly no one was able to join in or promote my readathon, so I shelved it for the year. But as it’s been a whole year already, I thought I would try and bring it back this year. Hopefully a few if not a lot of people will be interested in trying it this year.

    Not only will it give my blog more publicity. It will also encourage new and old readers. ????

    I hope you join me this year and I look forward to us all completing the NarnAThon challenge by 30th September.


    Here is my original post: NarnAThon #Readathon

    Happy Reading!

  • Blogging,  Favourites

    2 YEARS OF BLOGGING ????

    Well that second year came round quickly didn’t it. When I first signed up to WordPress two years ago, I thought this blog would just be a part time thing that I created for fun and to join in the conversation about books.

    One year on, I became self hosted (dot.com) thanks to my fabulous friend in IT. I started to take this blog very seriously. Towards the end of the half of the 1st year I was scheduling posts, months in advance. It went well & lots of people engaged with posts.

    Over the beginning over the beginning of this year I took a step back due to other commitments and not over working myself, I started a psychology course that took a lot of my time and also started my old hobby of fiction writing again, As well as continuing my italian lessons and volunteering at the library too, most of which which I have also explained already on other pages on my blog.

    Anyway back on topic, by January this year I thought of closing this blog but took another look at what I’d created and decided it was too good to throw in the bin.

    I realised I now know how to add widgets, website design, newsletters and menus – all thanks to learning; so I could make this site the best quality that it can be.

    I made the decision against my friends advice to change the theme of the website and looking back it was the best thing I’ve done. I know I don’t post as regularly as others and maybe I’m not cut out to be a book or lifestyle blogger, but I have put my heart and soul into designing and maintaining this small piece of the internet.

    Am I proud of this blog? Damn right, I am!

    Danielle

    Previous titles,
      (2017) Danielle’s Book Reviews.
      (2018) Welshie Books & Thoughts.
      (2019-…) W Books n Thoughts.
  • Blogging,  REVIEWS

    Adding film and TV reviews, in 2020

    Many of you may be wondering what this is about?

    I have been in blogging community for nearly four years now and enjoy every minute of it! I have also thought about expanding into the Film & TV via reviewing some content, both old and new. I love the Entertainment industry and would love to voice my opinions on what I’m watching.

    NETFLIX

    As this is no surprise I am one of the millions of on/off Netflix subscribers, which is a paid for subscription-based service online that you can access on smart boxes, TVs & portable devices. It shows both old and new content such tv & films with a fixed price a month for the whole service.

    NOWTV

    I am a subscriber to NowTV which in essence is a cheaper version of the Sky brand that has no annual contract like Sky does. It has content which includes Movies and TV box sets.

    Taking a leap of faith

    As you are aware I have not ventured into reviewing Film & TV before other than my old Tumblr site. An interesting fact is that I posted a review on one of the Pirate of the Caribbean films, but that’s about it. Also 1 review on this blog last year.

    As you are my readers, I want to know whether you would be happy with me adding those two topics to my blog. I hope you can tell I’m nervous. Anyway, so I will post a few reviews from older DVDs and current TV shows on TV and go from there. If it is a success I will continue writing more reviews and if it doesn’t work out at least I’ve tried my best & I still have all different topics on this blog of course.

    Let me know in the comments how I’m doing and which reviews you like most.
    If you don’t comment on my blog please follow me on Twitter as I love discussions.

  • Blogging

    A massive update, for 2019

    Hi everyone, and HAPPY NEW YEAR

    As you must have noticed W Books n Thoughts has been aesthetically updated. This was because it is what I felt the blog deserves. I kept looking at my old blog saying it just isn’t ME anymore. Luckily I found a lovely new photo of me and a great theme to use from now on and I am sooo happy with it.

    This blog originally started out as a book blog over a year and a half ago but has expanded to so much more than I could’ve dreamed of. I’m now writing about my life.. my life? as if I thought anyone would want to know about boring little old me, hey I’m only 5ft3!

    Sometimes I even write book reviews like when I first started blogging & occasionally I’ll write a food review (I love good food and wine!) It’s also a way for me to share my passion for Italy.

    I hope you all are enjoying my journey through writing, I never thought I’d get this far and I’m so happy I am still here. I know I’m yet to collaborate with brands and companies… but that’s ok, it takes time & they need to choose the right person, who’s not me right now.

    I see so many bloggers excel in their writing, and statistics don’t lie, but I have to tell you, right now I’m just having fun – I’m having fun with friends and family and I also hope you’re having fun reading this post.. can you tell I’m excited to write more.

    But enough from me… Tell me what you think of the new blog? what’s your favourite post so far? I love and appreciate you all reading and hope to see you on my next adventure, or blog post!

     New year, new life (let’s make a fresh start)
  • Blogging,  Food & Drink

    My journey with food, & beyond.

    I have been musing about what to add on my blog and I thought why not Food & Drink? Let me take you on a journey as to why I love this topic so much…

    Lovely steak at Brewers Fayre

    When I was a child I loved going out to places and loved to eat a lot. A favourite place I used to love in Cardiff Bay was a fish and chip restaurant centred next to Techniquest. It was a lovely place and it had some memories I will treasure forever of going there with my dearly beloved nan.

    Scroll on to 2000s, I was an anti-food snob and barely ate anything but ready meals and the so. There was a period of time that during my teens I just wanted to eat & go out. I didn’t appreciate either my mother’s home cooking or where we went to eat, I had no idea about money or what food costs.

    Since 2015, I have started to really enjoy tasty food. Yes I have gained weight (about a stone… or two) but it can’t put a price on the happiness I feel when presented with a tasty meal. I have, in the last few years, tried a few different areas, and other places such as Cardiff & small vintage inns or local pubs & restaurants nearby.

    I have found some unique menus with options including fish, meat, pasta & salad. Although I am not a vegetarian I am going to pledge to look at 1 vegetarian for every 4 meat dishes on my blog. I will be showing you the dishes that I love. I would not describe myself as a critic but more a lover of food.

    Mom’s homemade spaghetti bolognese

    Please join me on this new journey where I will show you both new & old places to eat in South Wales (UK). I’m sure many people have heard of places like Toby Carvery & Jamie’s Italian but I want to show you places that many don’t know even exist. Join me & fall in love with food again! To collaborate or for sponsored posts click here.

    Please Note: 
Images are my own - share only with my permission. ©WBooksnThoughts.
  • Blogging

    HOW TO: Start a blog (& maintain it)

    This is a common post most bloggers end up creating – about how they survived the first few months blogging. It is crucial that in the first few months you don’t give up as they are the most challenging of all the months. After you have established a brand or started working with brands hopefully it will get easier. I’m not quite at that level yet but I am actively searching for brands to collaborate with, in 2019. Anyway, here’s my top 5 tips…

    1. Make sure you have content ready BEFORE making your blog.

    This is important because when you first open your blog and ask people to view it, you want to have some content already so they want to come back for more in the future. I know from experience when I first started uploading content people were confused by it as they didn’t know what I would post next & if they would like it (I’m sure some still do wonder where this blog is going, I’m working on it – I promise!). The more consistent content you have the more a person is likely to follow it as they want to read more in the future.

    2. Find a topic YOU love talking about, a lot!

    This is a decider on whether your blog will thrive or fail. If you have a topic you love and can’t stop talking about that’s what you should talk about on your blog. I know from experience that I choose a topic and ran out of things to talk about because I wasn’t enthusiastic enough and had no more conversation to write about. I have since changed my blog name & topics to suit what I like and it works much better.

    3. Decide early on, what themes you like

    This is something you should do preferably before you promote your blog. It is important that a theme shows your uniqueness in a rapidly growing world of blogs. Your theme should be something you would want to read & is drawn to you. To put it bluntly, if it is a shit theme & does not follow what you’re saying, people won’t want to read it anymore … of course, you can always change your theme after and make it better in time.

    4. Get solid advice from other bloggers and friends

    This is a tough one if none of your friends and family blog or work in IT/graphics. It will be crucial that you view other blogs that you admire or want as a base to start your blog (however you can not under any circumstances copy them… EVER!) My advice would be to create your site but do not publish it until you have asked others you know to look over it, even if its just the menu’s don’t look quite right or the theme doesn’t show your personality (see above), in the long run, you will thank them!

    5. Think of an AWESOME blog name

    This is a really interesting one. Although if you stick with a hosting site (I will talk more about what that means in another post or Google it now!) you can change your name multiple times if you don’t like it. the best blog start with a unique name (or the bloggers own) which get them noticed. When you eventually go self-hosted (IE a .com site) you want to stand out from the crowd and be noticed as an interesting name for potential readers to remember and brands to want to work with.

    That is the end of my ranting and raving. I hope these (admittedly brief) tips and tricks will help you create your very own blog like mine (or better, who knows). If there is a trick I mentioned above that you used tell me if it worked.