Book Club Friday: The Princess and the Snowbird

It's been a few weeks since my last book review, of The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison. Since then, I've read both the third and the fourth books in the series. Since I love these books so much, I'm dedicating today's post to The Princess and the Snowbird.

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The Princess and the Snowbird introduces two new characters to the magical universe. The daughter of King Richon and Chala, who inherited all of her parents' magic, befriends a boy with no magic. 

From her website: Her parents were legends. When she was born, they gave their magic to her. And they will not take it back. Now, it is up to her if magic lives or dies. But she has lived all her life with animals. Why should it matter to her what humans do to their own magic?

While I loved this book as well, reading it felt a little bittersweet. I get really attached to book characters, and this book takes place in a later time period than George and Marit. 

Magic has once again transformed. The animal magic introduced in the first book is now known as the aur-magic, and a human corruption of it is the tehr-magic. Most humans fear the aur-magic, and there's an evil magic-less man called the Hunter who is trying to eradicate all magic.

I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to mention that I loved the romance and adventure in this novel.

Although I recommend reading the first two novels before trying The Princess and the Snowbird, this book can stand alone. Anyone with a love for fantasy and adventure should definitely check out The Princess and the Snowbird.

 

*Post contains two Amazon Affiliate links.

Please Stop Asking Me About My Sex Life

I’ve been a virgin my whole life, for well over 25 years. I’ve been blogging about virginity for about two and a half years now. I like to accessorize with a scarlet V on my chest, and sometimes I accidentally pull my V-card out of my wallet when I’m reaching for my credit card.

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So, like, you’d think I’d be totally suave and sophisticated, or at least straightforward and sensible, when discussing S-E-X with actual people, in real life.*

Nuh-uh.

Not even close.

If I don’t blush and stammer, then I go off on some academic, feminist diatribe. Anything to avoid talking about my own sex life.

Yet, I can’t always avoid the conversation. Even with my family.

Especially with my family.

When my boyfriend and I first started dating, my mom and I had a lovely little chat.

Mom: So where are you and Beau staying during the weekend?

Me: I booked us a hotel downtown, within walking distance of the church.

Mom: Just one room?!

Me: I can’t exactly afford two rooms, Mom, and I’m not going to ask him to pay for the hotel for my sorority sister’s wedding.

Mom: Oh, goodness me. Well, you know, just be sure to only pack nice underwear, in case he goes through your bag or something. I mean, I don’t know why he’d be in your suitcase, but you wouldn’t want him to come across one of those older pairs you have or something.

Me: Um, okay, Mom. So, on a completely unrelated note, if I call in a refill of my birth control at our local pharmacy, could you pick it up and mail it to me?

Mom: *crickets*

Me: Mom, I’m only going to say this once, and then I never want to discuss it again. Beau and I are both saving sex for marriage.

It came up with Beau, his brother, and his brother’s wife when we were debating the “religious freedom” of the coverage of birth control.

Me: I’m lucky that mine only costs $10 a month, but that’s with insurance. Not all formulas are the same, and without insurance, it can be really expensive.

Beau’s Brother: *raises his eyebrows and looks at Beau*

Beau: *undertone* She takes it for medical reasons.

Me: *blushes*

Oh, hey, my aunt brought it up at Christmas last year!

Aunt: *undertone* So are you two doing it?

Me: *undertone* Aunt!!!!!!!!!!!!! No! *blushes*

Everyone Else: *looks at us*

What can I say? I really don’t want to tell my family my boyfriend and I aren’t having sex. But I also don’t want lectures on how we shouldn’t be having sex until we’re married. Which we’re not.

Basically I’m screwed—well, not screwed—either way.

*Exceptions to my awkwardness would be with select besties, who are great for sexy chats.

Sunday Shoutouts: Happy New Year!

I skipped Sunday Secrets Shoutouts (oops, I was tired when I wrote this) last week. Beau and I spent the weekend in his hometown, hanging out with his high school and college friends who were all in town for the holidays. Beau has AWESOME friends, and I regret that we don't get to see his oldest friends more often. Sunday we went to the art museum in his hometown. While I definitely enjoyed it, I was bummed that their ONE painting by Monet was on loan. It was a busy weekend, lots of fun, but blogging just wasn't a priority. 

But it's a new year! And my first Sunday Shoutouts of 2014! I read tons of great posts this past week, and I can't wait to share them all.

Most Inspirational New Year post: I didn't make any "normal" resolutions this year, and the two that I did make I'm keeping private. I LOVE what Lindsay did in lieu of a normal resolution, over at Trial By Sapphire. She chose a word to live by in 2014. So original! And the word she chose is so great I might just steal it for myself... But you'll have to read the post itself to find out!

Most Reasonable New Year post: I might join Elle Sees in her resolutions this year. Last year, she did a mini resolution every week! And before that, she did a different one every month. This year, she's changing it up once again. 

Bravest post: Newer readers might not know this, because I don't bring it up often, but I'm bisexual. One of the Christian feminist bloggers I follow started the new year by coming out as queer, being somewhere in-between straight and lesbian. It's a beautiful, honest post, and I highly encourage everyone to read it.

If you missed it, check out my review of my blog in 2013.

What did you read this week?

Twitter Infographic: Belle vs. Beau

Check out this fun infographic I made comparing my twitter habits with Beau's twitter habits. 



As always, you can follow me on twitter @belle_vierge and Beau on twitter @beau_vierge.

2013: A Year of Boobs, Books, and Battling Sexism

I can't believe it's 2014 already. So much happened in my life in 2013, and this year will bring about even more changes. However, some things will stay the same. My love for my own boobs and my hatred for body-shaming. My love for books and my regret that I don't read enough. My love for feminism and my disgust of sexism.

Before we jump into everything 2014 has to offer, let's look back at my blog in 2013.

January

In January, I blogged four times. I don't have a favorite post from that month, but to date, My Boobs Have Nothing to Do with You has the third most page views of all time.

February

February doesn't really count because I took my blog offline. During this month, I got a new web design and my own custom domain. I rebranded my blog from Confessions of a Virgin to Finding My Virginity.

March

I somehow managed to blog nine times in March, which I think was a record for me at that point. I wrote a few really good posts that month, and I shared an anonymous guest post. The guest post, Stand Up, Take Action, has the fourth most page views of all time. As much as I love my post on men and sexual assault statistics, and my post on Christian feminism, my favorite post from the month explained my blog's new direction, in How I'm "Finding My Virginity."

April

I had TWO guest posts in April, and the overall unofficial theme for the month was consent. 

May

May was a little cray-cray, because I successfully completed the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge. Wow! My readers loved Misbehaving and Making History, a look at my favorite quote and why. But IMHO, my post on princess culture is one of the best posts I've ever written, Belle, the Disney Princess.

June

In June, I started my bikini series, several blog posts that criticized modesty culture overall and an anti-bikini blog post in particular. My Bikini Answer: I Am Not Cake was both my favorite post that month, and in my top ten most popular posts of all time. 

July

I continued my bikini series in July with My Bikini Answer: Sexual Attraction is Not Lust. Again, it was both my favorite post and y'all's favorite post, with the most page views that month and NINE reader comments, most of which were very long and engaging! 

August

August brought another bikini post (are you noticing a trend yet?), which again had the highest number of page views that month. Apparently I am not the only one who is against modesty culture and for bikini freedom. In My Bikini Answer: All Women Cannot Prevent the Lust of All Men, I pointed out the hypocrisy and sexism in asking women to cover up for the sake of men. But my favorite post that month was actually when I explained the Top 5 Reasons I am Not a Lifestyle Blogger.

September

I went off the grid for about ten days in September, to enjoy a houseboat vacation with Beau Vierge and his family in Tennessee. While I was gone, three of my friends guest-posted for me. I was pretty proud of my post Confessions of a (Future) Feminist Bride.

October

I was really busy in October, and my blog posts were slightly lazy. Real life happens, you know? But I ended the month on a high note, with 3 Easy Tips to be a Good Wife.

November

So... November was also busy, and I was also lazy. I did write one killer post that garnered a ton of comments. My reaction to the viral post on marriage is Actually, Marriage is for (Both of) You and examines some of the dangerous thinking in the original viral work.

December 

I worked really hard on my blog this month, which resulted in a ridiculous total of FIFTEEN blog posts. Gift Ideas for Busty Women quickly ended up in my top ten most popular posts of all time. My favorite post was my review of the December chapter in Rachel Held Evans' book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood.