When Your Day Is Gray

I'm very prone to gray days, especially this time of year when I feel overwhelmed with all I have to do and the weather is getting cold and the wind goes right through my coat. This stinks, because I love autumn and I love the upcoming Christmas season. But sometimes there are things that can make me (and you) feel better.

1. Eat some food.

Whatever will make you happy to eat, whether it be donuts, salad, toast, soup, or fruit. Don't feel guilty about eating junk food on gray days, but do try to balance it out with something a little healthier. Warm food is usually the best, at least for me.

2. Take care of yourself.

Take a shower, brush your teeth, brush your hair, change your clothes. You feel fresher if you do any of these things.

3. Put on some happy music

It doesn't have to be anything upbeat, but whatever will make you smile or give you the chance to stop and breathe. If you feel up to it, get up and dance around.

4. Watch a movie or a TV show.

Pull up your Netflix queue or open your movie drawer. Don't go for anything too highbrow or intense. Disney movies are one of the best cures for gray days.

5. Hugs

Find a willing friend or keep a stuffed animal close. Plus, hugs are great for reducing stress, improving your health, and preventing colds (counterintuitive, I know, but it's true).

6. Read a book.

I keep fluffy, happy books around for a reason. While I love soul-crushing books, they are not good for my gray days. I suggest anything by Morgan Matson or Kasie West, or The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson.

7. Take a nap.

Or, at the very least, turn out the lights, turn on some soothing music, and close your eyes. Even if you don't fall asleep, you'll feel more refreshed.

8. Get some fresh air.

I know it's hard to go outside on gray days - I don't usually want to - but if the weather's not bad, open your window or leave your dorm/house to get food or just to take a walk or drive.

9. Avoid social media, if you can.

Unless you've made your Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr very happy, cozy places, it's better to take a step back and get off social media for the day. You won't miss too much, I promise.

10. Have something to do with your hands.

Take up a handcraft (like knitting or embroidery). Keep coloring books and crayons/colored pencils/markers in your room. Keep Play-Doh or a stress ball around. Put your energy into creating something, or give your stress an outlet.

Most of all...

11. Let a friend or family member know how you're feeling.

A good friend will bring you food, send happy thoughts, come and spend time with you, or do whatever you need them to.

Of course, my suggestions are nothing new, but I don't see people talk about gray day cures a lot, so I needed to. I promise, these gray days won't last forever. (If you feel like they're multiplying though, it might be a good idea to see a therapist.) But remember, you're not alone.

On Reading The Chronicles of Narnia

I grew up reading the Narnia books. My mom read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to me when I was six or seven, and the box set we own has worn spines from so many readings. 

In my adolescent literature class this fall, we read LWW (as my prof abbreviated it) towards the beginning of the semester. It was one of the books in the first unit, and we had to write a take-home essay about one of those first three books (to put it simply; there were other options but this was the main one). I chose a topic relating to LWW, and I decided I should share my essay with y'all.

Preserving the Buried Treasure

If one is a Chronicles of Narnia fan, he or she will usually reside in one of two camps. The first camp believes that the series must be read in chronological order—that is, with The Magician’s Nephew as the first book. The second group adheres to the belief that the series should be read in in publication order with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as the first book. This view is how C.S. Lewis intended his children’s book series to be read.

Lewis never intended to write a whole series. In his famous letter to Laurence Krieg, Lewis shared that he finished writing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and believed that it would be a standalone. Even after he wrote Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he believed the series was complete after each one. As we know today, seven books compose The Chronicles of Narnia. The events of two of the later books, The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy occur before four of the other novels in the series, and that is why many people argue they should be read first (in the case of The Magician’s Nephew) or third (in the case of The Horse and His Boy). However, if Lewis wrote the first books in the series without the intention of writing the latter ones, should that not be an indicator that the books should be read in publication order? He created the stories in a specific order, and to read them in publication order respects his process.

In addition, one might say the passage of time between our world and Narnia mirrors Lewis’s process of writing the books “out of order.” Time works much differently in Narnia than it does in our world. When the Pevensies and others go to Narnia, no time passes in our world. However, they never know how much time will pass in the magical world when they are in ours. Prince Caspian takes place 1,300 Narnian years after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, even though it has only been a year in our world. When it comes to Narnia, time is different, and perhaps the order of the books is simply Lewis playing with the order of time. A story can be told out of chronological order and still make sense.

Reading The Chronicles of Narnia is similar to viewing the Star Wars movies—George Lucas created and released the films in a specific order. Additional meaning appears when Lewis’s books are read “out of order.” First-time readers of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe go through the wardrobe alongside Lucy Pevensie, and they journey into a magical land where it is always winter with her. They meet the White Witch with Edmund and see the magnificence of Aslan with the Pevensies. If someone reads The Magician’s Nephew before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he expects those classic elements. The surprise is lost on the reader who already knows the story of The Magician’s Nephew.

To elaborate further, when readers proceed through The Chronicles of Narnia in publication order, they get to participate in a special magic not unlike when Lucy first arrives in Narnia. Readers will view the events with wonder and excitement. In The Magician’s Nephew, they are introduced to the wardrobe, the lamppost, and Professor Kirke, among other familiar elements of the series. Learning how those things got to where they are in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is like solving a mystery you did not know even existed. It is infinitely more fascinating to learn how something familiar came to be after one knows about its existence. Jane Saska, a former educator of 16 years who read The Chronicles of Narnia to her students for 10 years, holds this belief.  She said in an interview, “The story and characters are revealed in the order the author intended. I just remember the excitement and looks on my students’ faces when I read them The Magician’s Nephew (as the second-to-last book) and they realized who Digory was and how the lamppost came to be, and a variety of other moments like that. It was like they were discovering buried treasure.” Therefore, Lewis’s series should be read in publication order; otherwise, the magic of Narnia will be incomplete.

The 1980 Collins editions of The Chronicles of Narnia were the first to number the series in chronological order rather than publication order. The copyright page claims the publisher did this in compliance with C.S. Lewis’s original wishes. However, Hope College professor Peter Schakel, in his book Imagination and the Arts in C.S. Lewis, disagrees with this phrase. He states, “Does original mean from the time at which The Magician’s Nephew was completed? If so, why did Lewis not request the Bodley Head to include this renumbering in the new book, or in The Last Battle the following year, or have Geoffrey Bles change the order in later reprints of the other books?” (43). In other words, why was it 17 years after Lewis’s death before this change was instated? These could not have been Lewis’s original wishes at all in that case.

There is no law stating that one must read The Chronicles of Narnia in publication order. However, this is the superior way to read the series. The magic is kept alive, and it seems to coincide with how C.S. Lewis intended his book series to be read.

So what's your opinion? In what order should readers encounter the Narnia series?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Disney/Pixar Films

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Disney movies were one of my first loves. I still remember my mom popping in a VHS when I was a toddler and preschooler and falling asleep partway through Lady and the Tramp, or Bambi, or Dumbo. So today, I'm gonna tell y'all my top ten favorite Disney and Pixar films.




1. Beauty and the Beast
I still remember when we went to Disney World when I was five. I met Belle and talked to her about books.


2. Inside Out
I cry every time.


3. Monsters University
I love Monsters, Inc. but there's something I love just a little more about MU.


4. Big Hero 6
The first movie I went to see while I was at college. Worth every penny.


5. Tangled
I didn't see this one in theaters because I remembered enough about the Disney Dark Age to be leery. Saw it later on Disney Channel. Fell in love.


6. Mulan
"LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS."


7. Aladdin
I have this thing for the Disney Renaissance films that came before I was born (well, I was alive for Mulan and Hercules).



8. Zootopia
Disney's found its groove again.

9. The Aristocats
One of my childhood favorites. I love Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. 

10. Cinderella
I definitely mean the original, not the remake.

What are your favorite Disney/Pixar movies? And what did you talk about for your post today?

So You Like... #37

There are very few authors who I trust to write consistently good books. Kasie West is one of them (and we're getting two books by her next year, so it's gonna be a great year). This post is all about the books you might like if you like Kasie West's contemporary romances.

Bantery characters and a swoony romance.

Hijinks, laughter, and a great love interest.

A protagonist who grows (a bit like Charlie in On the Fence) and fake dating (like in The Fill-In Boyfriend).

Just everything about this book screams read-alike for Kasie West's titles.

The main character is bookish like Addie from Pivot Point and there's the joy of first love.

Do you like Kasie West's books? What other titles would you recommend for fans of her books?

Rewind & Review #73

Created by Shae Has Left the Room.

~It's November, the month when everything is due. Over the next week I have two presentations, one quiz, one exam, six critiques, and one fiction revision due. Pray for me.

~The election has left me feeling disheartened, and my anxiety hasn't been too great lately as a result.

~I'll be home in a little over a week for break! It's going to be so good to get away from school.

Books I Received for Review

Mind Games by Heather W. Petty (from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley)

Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman (from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley)

Books I Won/Traded for/was Gifted

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson (won in Nori's 2017 authors giveaway)

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty (traded with Angie)

Books I Read

The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan (3.5 stars)

Sofia Petrovna by Lydia Chukovskaya

Map to the Stars by Jen Malone (3 stars)

A Million Worlds with You by Claudia Gray (5 stars)

Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (4 stars)

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (2 stars)

The Reader by Traci Chee (DNF)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (3 stars)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (5 stars)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (3 stars)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (4 stars)

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson (reread)

Blog Posts You Might've Missed in the Last Few Weeks

   (from 10/31-11/5)

• Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Read if Your Book Club Likes Strong Heroines
• Writing Prompt #10
• Review: Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin (4 stars)
• The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
• The Odyssey Article - Why Aren't You Reading Diverse Books?

   (from 11/6-11/12)

• Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Additions to My TBR List
• New(bery) Reading Challenge
• Random Friday: Autumn
• Writing Prompt #11
• The Odyssey Article - 11 Solutions For When Your Day Is Gray

Writing Prompt #11

This is another writing prompt from my creative writing class. We had to read the novella Train Dreams and the class after we finished it, my prof started us with a prompt inspired by the novella. Basically, she told us to write something inspired by the title and it could go wherever we wanted it to. My piece is very vague, I know, and it's not really finished. Anyways, hope you enjoy and, if you use this prompt, feel free to let me know what you wrote about!

Margot. She heard her name rustle through the air over and over in time with the clack of the train wheels against the rails. Stepping out the door, she left the car with green wallpaper and plush red seats. The wind rushed around her, shoving her back into the doorframe. She could still hear the voices, whoever they belonged to, chanting her name.

Behind her, the train was empty and the lights were dim. She wondered if the other passengers were in their…what were they called? Bedroom cars? Sleeping chambers? She couldn’t remember if she had one.

Margot. Whispery air trickled down her spine. Goosebumps rose all over her skin, and she wiped sweaty palms on a dress she was sure she hadn’t been wearing only seconds before. What had happened to her favorite jeans?

She stepped across the shaky divide between train cars and pushed against the other door. It opened only after she exerted great effort. This car was empty of people, but rows of crates lined the aisle. She peered at labels as she passed, but they were all in a different language. Something from Eastern Europe, she thought.

Margot. She quickened her steps. The voices were chasing her.

Random Friday: Autumn

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following: 

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my post.
• Blog about this week's topic.
• Add the link to your Random Friday at the bottom of this post.

Hey, everyone! My name’s Elise, and I’m one of Emma’s friends at school. We were actually roommates freshman year, but I think we would have killed each other if we’d kept it up, so we room separately and saved our friendship. ☺

This week’s topic is the umbrella topic of autumn, the season, and Emma obviously knew what she was doing when she asked me to write to this, because I. Love. Autumn. In my humble opinion, it is the best season of them all. My power is at its peak in autumn, or so I like to joke.

Why, you ask, is autumn so special?

Well. I’m glad you asked, because there are so many fantastic reasons:

1. The Temperature Outside

If you’re anything like me, summer can feel a bit brutal after a while. I live in the Midwestern United States, and stepping outside in the summer feels like someone took a thick quilt out of the dryer before it was actually dry and tossed it unceremoniously on top of me. The humidity can be downright unbearable.

But in autumn, the great outdoors begins to cool down. There are cool mornings occasionally adorned with frost, crisp breezes that leave little goose-bumps on your arms, and the sunshine still shines, feeling refreshing and warm instead of imposing and burning.

2. The Actual Weather

 Call me crazy, but beating sunshine gets a bit…old, after a while. And while I really enjoy a big summer thunderstorm, there is nothing like a lightly overcast sky on a cool autumn day, even including a light drizzle now and again. Yeah, I know, gross—but honestly, it’s one of the best kinds of weather to sit by a window for, armed with a good book and a mug of tea. The weather practically forces you to partake in cozy activities, which is the biggest reason I enjoy it so much.

3. All the Colors

When the air cools and the skies become a bit drearier, the leaves on all the trees start to change—and that, my friends, is truly Art by Mother Nature. Taking walks outside in autumn is truly a pleasure; there are rainbows of colors up above you, fluttering in the breeze, and below you, crunching beneath your feet. I like to go out and collect different colors and types of leaves that have fallen and press them in books. (I’m a bit of a nerd; I don’t exactly care that much.)

4. All the Layers
Because things get so much cooler outside, tank tops and shorts are no longer an option (something I shed no tears over—I don’t consider myself to have the body type that looks good in summer clothes). The viable option?

Sweaters. All the sweaters. Sweaters everywhere.

I adore being able to wear something so thick and cuddly throughout my entire day. It’s literally a blanket you can wear, and the best part is that it’s actually stylish. And autumn fashion colors are great, as well, subdued and warm. When I can throw on a giant sweater over a pair of leggings and pull on some boots and not only look good, but also feel comfortable…that is a good day.

5. Cozy Foods

In addition to having a reason to get cozy in sweaters, autumn also offers another way to get cozy: autumn food. Any food made from apples and pumpkins is welcome in autumn with open arms—pies, soups, crisps, dumplings, cider, pastries—but there are also things like caramel popcorn and cinnamon-roasted almonds that warm me up at this time of year. Pumpkin spice lattes are a hit in every coffeehouse in autumn, as well, no matter how basic you consider them to be.

6. Harry Potter

This one is a bit more of a personal autumn favorite, but autumn is a fantastic time for anything Harry Potter-related. The first time I read the entire series was in autumn, and every year, like clockwork, I read them again. I wait until October, to give autumn a bit of a head start, and then I dig into all seven books and embrace them like old friends. Who doesn’t enjoy stories about witches and wizards and a magical school like Hogwarts in autumn? Although this may have less to do with the actual season of autumn and more to do with another favorite thing happening during the season…

7. Halloween!

If you’re looking for a stress-free holiday that’s literally about candy, look no further than Halloween. All the great things about autumn become incorporated into the holiday—there are pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns; traditional Halloween parties have a tub for bobbing for apples; the now-bare treetops give the day a spookier feel—and in addition, of course, there’s trick-or-treating, which means getting to pick out or design a cool costume and collect free candy.

Halloween as a holiday feels really chill to me; there’s no tradition heavily leaning towards the need to visit family, for those who have stressful times at family functions. Thanksgiving will come along at the tail-end of autumn, a time for family, but Halloween remains really chill and is truly a holiday to celebrate in your own way with whomever you please.

Honestly, I could continue on and on about all of my favorite autumn-related things, but this list covers the majority of most of the things I particularly enjoy. I find myself a lot happier of a person in autumn, probably because there are so many things around me that I’m enjoying that I have less time to feel down. Which is fine by me, really!

Is there anything I missed on this list that you enjoy about autumn? Feel free to comment below! Also, if this really struck a chord with you and you want more autumn-ness in your life—and you have a tumblr—feel free to follow my blog that I’ve dedicated entirely to the season, URL: cider-and-sweaters. Thanks for reading and thank you, Emma, for letting me guest post to all of your lovely readers! Happy Autumn, everyone!