I saw this tag over @ Elaine Howlin, who has just about the prettiest blog I’ve ever seen, and it was originally created by the BookTubers, Book Buds. I haven’t done a tag in ages, and this one looked really fun, so let’s get to it!

What is something that you
own way too many of, other than books?

Crystals. Lorddddd, I have so many damn crystals. I recently signed up for a crystal healer course, which is mildly hilarious to me because I am very much of the camp that recognizes that crystals are just rocks, but I also have an absurd amount. The same for tarot, though, because they’re just playing cards, and you already have all the answers, they’re just steering you toward those answers because you’re too afraid of them to acknowledge them yourself, but I also definitely have moments of holy shit that’s freaky. I do have a ton of tarot decks, but the crystals are the worst.

Last year, I did a bookshelf tour for most of the year, and I took pretty nice quality pictures of each of the shelves, including all the crystals and other knickknacks on them, so if you’re curious what, exactly, I have, check it out!

What is something that you do for fun
that’s not reading a book?

This is definitely something that I talk about enough on the blog that everyone knows about it, but I both practice yoga and rock climb. They’re some of my favorite things in the world to do, and yoga has definitely saved my life several times over.

What is something special or important
on your nightstand, that’s not a book?

I have a very small room, so I don’t actually have a nightstand, but I do have an altar, and I’m pretty proud of it. I’ve been curating it for a couple years now, and it’s finally reached a level that makes me hella happy when I look at it.

Let’s see if I can identify everything. There are three crystals to aid with sleeping, and they’re a bit hidden by the berries that I can’t remember what they’re called, but the crystals are lepidolite (stress relief), howlite (blocking negativity), and kyanite (mental strength). There’s a dried lotus pod, a bundle of sacred wood, a selenite crescent moon full of planet rings, my grammy’s glasses & papa’s watch, a bundle of rainbow ritual candles, a clay chanchito pig for friendship, my sandalwood mala that I’ve had for years, cinnamon, selenite, and black tourmaline, three sticks of palo santo because I keep misplacing and then finding them, a witches brew cauldron of lavender, two dried pomegranates, a picture of Erin & me at her wedding, a Green Man box of roses, eucalyptus, more dried lavender, a huge jar of bones, a selenite tower, various plants, my HomePod that I fall asleep to rain and wake up to the ocean with, and a humidifier, which is the actual best thing in the world.

What’s something that you buy
at a bookstore other than books?

Uhhhh, I definitely don’t buy anything except books when I’m in a bookstore. I don’t use bookmarks, and I’m usually shopping for myself, and I don’t like most of the things in a bookstore because they’re usually just things that’ll take up space in my itty bitty room, but I’ve definitely started looking at enamel pins when I’m in stores, so maybe I’ll end up buying one of those someday?

What’s a fun gift that you’ve received
that wasn’t a book or a gift card for books?

Last year, one of my best friends, Jen, got me the most gorgeous porcelain tea set ever. It’s full high tea, too–cups, saucers, little spoons that hook onto the edge of the cup, three-tiered tray, pot, milk jug, sugar jar, probably something that I’m forgetting, but it’s so freaking beautiful. It’s white with gold trim, and I’m so in love with it. I can’t wait to someday be able to display it all the time.

This was from my birthday this past year, which was made even more special by her very generous and elegant gift.

What’s a YouTube channel that you watch,
that’s not related to books?

I don’t actually watch booktube that much, or ever, unless I really just need something I can tune out, which also isn’t often, so my favorite YouTubes are all non-book anyway. I don’t watch a ton of YouTube, either, because I’m not good at sitting still for long for videos, but what I do watch is Good Mythical Morning, Trixie Mattel, and Brad Mondo, and that is literally it.