Category: Bookish Discussions

A couple of my book related rambles that I’d love your opinions on!

30 Words You Didn’t Know you Knew

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities16 Comments

Some of you veteran readers may remember that I did a post a while back containing 30 words I’d learnt from books. And now I’ve read more books, found more words, and I’m challenging you all again: how many of these 30 new words do you know? Scores in the comments section please!

  1. Chelicerae – Spider pincers… Grim
  2. Sphincter – muscles that guard the stomach or the um… anus…
  3. Panache – a confident manor. Think Jace Wayland.
  4. Palpable – a feeling so intense it’s almost physical
  5. Denuding – strip of coverings or possessions.
  6. Portended – warning of a big event likely to happen ⚠️
  7. Inured – accustom to something unpleasant. Those with siblings will understand 😝
  8. Mullioned – a vertical element that divides windows. I never said these words would be useful
  9. Diaphanous – light, delicate fabric
  10. Chimerical – a mythical animal formed of parts of other animals, like a hypogriff.
  11. Surfeit – a large amount something, the amount of food I’ll eat when it’s free
  12. Maraud – searching for things to steal or attack, and everyone’s favourite map of Hogwarts!
  13. Caroming – strike and rebound. Can you tell I mostly read fantasy?
  14. Amphion – a musician who builds the walls of Thebes in Greek Mythology with his lyre. What a talented guy.
  15. Euphoria – a feeling of intense excitement, like I get everytime I see a Bookshop.
  16. Siphoned – drawing water to flow a certain way.
  17. Countervail – counter something with an equal force. ⚖️
  18. Cadence – an inflection of the voice 🎶
  19. Poignancy – invoking sadness or regret, that feeling you get when you eat too many Easter eggs
  20. Incongruous – not keeping with the surroundings
  21. Cerulean – deep sky blue 🌁
  22. Evanesce – pass out of memory
  23. Allay – put fear or suspicion at rest
  24. Poltroon – an utter coward. Aka me.
  25. Stupefaction – the state of being stupefied. If you don’t know what that means it’s explained visually in the first Harry Potter film.
  26. Samovar – a highly decorated tea urn used in Russia. Not quite sure which book this came from🤔
  27. Opulent – pretentiously costly, like Dominoes pizza
  28. Esoteric – something intended for a small group of people with specialist knowledge. Had a few university classes that match that definition…
  29. Coquetry – flirtatious behaviour
  30. Lacquer – an alcohol based liquid that makes a great varnish

STEM Representation in Literature

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities21 Comments

Media is full of negative conations about women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)- they can only do biology, men are better, the STEM character is the least attractive and clearly undatable. I struggle to find female STEM role models in media, and finding positive female STEM role models? Yeah, nearly impossible.

For my A Level years I went to a single sex school. It was the first year my school ran computing A Level and I was the only pupil doing it. I was super worried I’d be the first and last to do the subject, that there’d be no interest once I left. I ran coding classes for different levels: two in the senior school, one in the junior school, slowly and surely getting more girls into the computing room at lunch. You wouldn’t believe my joy when a girl in a younger year at school messaged me on Facebook a few years ago saying she’d taken computer science at the same university I had. That there’d been three doing computing A Level in her year. I couldn’t believe I’d actually made a difference.

But can the literature change the gender imbalance in computing? I’d say yes, it definitely did for me. My first real role model was probably Violet Baudelaire. Orphan, inventer and heroine of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Before I could even tie my shoelaces I was trying to tie my bob haircut up with string, to no avail, like her. In my eyes she was the epitome of cool: she used wacky inventions to save the day, she was the one her brother turned to when they were in a tight spot, she was everything ten year old me wanted to be.

Wanting to be an inventor like Violet changed my career path. I got an old excise book and drew pictures of inventions I planned to make one day. I tried to become a computer guru and became semi established with this title in year seven. I remember one particularly taxing ask by my aging English teacher: to get a digital version of a picture a girl had printed out for homework up on the projector. Sadly my ICT skills didn’t stretch to plucking search terms out of students’ heads and I failed to produce the image, a few Google Image searches later. Nevertheless, it will be no surprise to any of my teachers that I became a computer scientist. It always appeared to be on the cards.

Until it didn’t. At fourteen I went to a new school and suddenly computing wasn’t a subject. We learnt about Word and PowerPoint and ‘cool’ subjects became Art and History. It wasn’t just school that changed for me- it was media too. Violet was stuck in my past and my role models became Katniss and Tris. Computer science was restricted to The Big Bang Theory where it was ridiculed, because what kid wants to grow up to be like Leonard, at best? It didn’t look like the future, or the way to solve problems, it became another reason to laugh at the sad nerd in the corner.

I still had a love of engineering, a gutteral sense that it was for me, but I’ve no doubt I wouldn’t have questioned my decision, my place and right to take the subject, if I’d still been reading about Violet, kicking Olaf’s butt and saving her siblings with her mad inventions. And I wouldn’t have even consider computing if it wasn’t for characters like her. The interest she drummed in me meant my dad offered to teach me how to write my first computer program when he saw me reading a massive copy of “Programming for Dummies” that I’d gotten out the library.

Katniss and Tris, they taught a teenage me that women can do anything. But does literature tell kids that they can be anything?

Literature definitely has before. Take Hermione from Harry Potter. How many girls grew up under her fantastic influence, showing young women that brains is a form of strength. Characters that confront rather than conform to negative stereotypes can make a big difference. Or at least, they did for me.

I know not every novel can be about a female engineer, and wouldn’t want them all to be. If a debut is about a lawyer, or a warrior, or a writer or even a frog, then that’s fine. But there could be some small changes. A character gets advice from a wizened old professor at one point? Why can’t they be a woman. There’s a side character who happens to be in STEM? Make them strong. Attractive. Not that nerd with glasses and low self esteem. And there should never be demeaning and derogatory jokes about women in STEM (and yes, I have genuinely seen this in modern literature). Five minutes of laughter isn’t worth the terrible stereotype being instilled in young audiences.

I don’t have any statistics on whether media makes a difference to young people’s career paths. I don’t know how to magically change the public’s perception of women in STEM, I don’t even know if it’ll ever be a social norm for women to take STEM subjects. But I can’t help that think that maybe, just maybe, making it a fictional social norm could be a good place to start?

My Predictions for Finale

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities5 Comments

Unusual post! On May 9th the final book in the Caravel series is coming out, and I can’t wait! But as a little game I thought I’d write down some of my Predictions for this dramatic end of the series.

Note: this post WILL contain spoilers for Caravel and Legendary, read at your own peril.

🃏 The fates will get Trapped Back in the cards

Yep, easy one at first, I think they’ll manage to put the fates back in the cards. They might destroy them once and for all, but I think putting them back in the cards would be more fun.

🌹Scarlett will Loose Julian for Cheating on him

The whole ‘I like you but want to check I got the best guy possible’ attitude that some girls have is just terrible. Either you like the person you’re with or you don’t, no one else should come into it at all.

✨ Scarlett and Julian will end up Together

Yeah, they will be together in the end. He’ll forgive her and she’ll realise she loved him all along.

🎩 Dante and Jack will Fight over Tella

Anyone else felt a love triangle coming on at the end there? And Dante and Jack strike me as the old fashioned duel for the girl type.

♥️ Tella will end up Single

More a hope than a prediction, but I really hope Tella doesn’t get with either guy after how they’ve treated her. If she ends up with any of them I hope it’s Legend.

👑 Their Mother becomes Queen

The ‘their’ here refers to Scarlett and Tella. I mean, who better to be queen than a close personal friend to the ex queen. And as an ex criminal she could really cut down on the crime in the city.

🎪 Nigel takes Over Caravel

I know, I know, it is heavily implied in the blurb that Caravel will cease to exist. But maybe they could change it up a little? Make it into a humble carnival? Seems a shame to loose such a fun game, and think about all those unemployed actors! Who better to run it than its oldest player?

♣️ Legend will also get Trapped in a Card

Yeah, he’s too fragile and powerful to let roam free. He’ll fall into a card, possibly an ace or something, and spend the rest of his days as paper.

Lets Compare Notes

There you have it! My Finale predictions! Do you have any predictions? Agree with me on mine? Would love to hear your opinions in the comments!

How Many of these 30 Words do you Know?

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities18 Comments

Hello hello. I’m back, with quite an unsual post today- it’s all about the makings of books: words. I’ve been jotting down all the words I don’t understand from novels in the hope of someday understanding them and have decided that, for at least a few of these words, that day has come! So here is a small subset of my list of words that I’ve picked up:

  1. Sumptuous- Expensive looking
  2. Illusory- Based on an illusion
  3. Colonnade- Row of evenly spaced columns
  4. Epiphytes- A plant that grows on other plants but is not a parasite
  5. Kinesis- Motion
  6. Brocades– A rich woven fabric
  7. Carapace- The shell of a tortoise
  8. Iridescent- Luminous colours
  9. Indomitable- Impossible to defeat
  10. Balustrade- Railing supported by balusters
  11. Insipid– Lacking flavour
  12. Gaudy- Something someone gets to look expensive, but isn’t
  13. Auger- A tool for boring holes in wood
  14. Oculus- Round, eye like opening (e.g. circular window)
  15. Fresco- Wall painting found in Rome done while the plaster was still wet (derives from ‘fresh’)
  16. Drove- Animal herd being driven by something
  17. Ululated- Howl or wail expressed as a sign of grief
  18. Credulity- Believing something is real or true too quickly
  19. Sloughing- Shed or remove a layer of dead skin
  20. Affront- An action or remark that causes offense
  21. Palpable– Feeling so intense it feels almost real
  22. Chafe– Rash from rubbing
  23. Animus– Hostility
  24. Cloistered- Kept away from the outside world
  25. Entablature– The upper part of a classic building, supported by columns
  26. Paramours– A lover, often a married person
  27. Anathema– Something or someone that is vigorously disliked
  28. Rictus– A fixed grin
  29. Siphoned– a tool that changes the path of a liquid
  30. Fervent– Displaying an intense passion

Let’s Compare Notes

So there you have it! 30 new words, for me anyway (although my historian boyfriend knew quite a few!). How many, out of 30, did you know? Did you learn anything? Let me know in the comments!

What I Learnt Doing NaNoWriMo

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities10 Comments

Hello all! So you probably didn’t notice this since I didn’t put it on my blog much, but I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo this year! Or at least I attempted.

For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is a challenge in November to write a whole book in just one month. And if that doesn’t sound tough I can confirm it definitely is.

I wasn’t massively surprised that I didn’t manage to win NaNoWriMo (you win by writing 50,000 words). I had never tried to write anything that quickly before and wasn’t really sure how to approach the challenge. I did manage to write 3,365 words, which may not seem like much but I’m proud of that. I did learn and few things and will hopefully be able to take on this task again.

NaNoWriMo is hard

It’s sort of obvious and I knew it going in but it is very tough. 50,000 words is no mean feat and for a girl who can barely manage ten this was very tough. If you do try NaNoWriMo I suggest pacing yourself and if you write anything that’s an achievement.

NaNoWriMo is fun

Contradictory but stuff that’s hard can be fun too (and no that’s not an innuendo…). It’s fun having a project on the go and writing anything is always fun.

I’m not Great at just Writing a First Draft

I know it’s about getting something written, not necessarily having that perfect opening line, but honestly I really struggled with that. I’m indecisive at the best of times, putting words to paper that aren’t completely perfect panic me. It takes me ages to formulate a sentence, think it over and perfect it before I even write it down. Yep, I’m hopeless.

I kept Wanting to Rewrite What I’d Already Written

This sort ties into my other point, but the temptation to go back and read over what I’d written, to tweak it and continue working on it, were always there. I think I could have written so much more if I’d started each stint on a fresh piece of paper and forgot about yesterday’s stint.

I’m a Mood Writer

Honestly, so often I’d sit down to write something and draw a blank. I didn’t want to get into my characters head, I’d rather snuggle up with my book or write up a blog post I’d been planning for a while. I found it really tricky to keep returning to one story every day, rather than when I felt inspired and compelled to write.

The Community is Great

Going into NaNoWriMo I didn’t expect so many people to care. It was really fun to chat about my prospective book on Twitter and if I do attempt this task again I’d try to get more involved. It was very encouraging seeing people cheer each other on so much.

Lets Compare Notes

So there’s a small wrap up of my NaNoWriMo! Did you attempt the challenge? Did you complete it? Do you have any advice for taking on this challenge? Feel free to drop a comment!

Reading Hyped Books: Pros and Cons

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities11 Comments

What’s this? A discussion post? Do I have opinions behind all the tags and lists I post? Possibly not but let’s give it a go anyway.

I started my blog earlier this year and since then have tentatively started talking to other bloggers (urg why is socialising so hard). I’ve found myself reading more fantasy YA, more hyped and sought after novels than ever and adding suggestions to my tbr more than before. So here’s my question:

Is it a good thing to read mostly hyped novels?

This blog is, shamelessly, a YA book blog. And most of what I read is YA, but not everything. I occasionally dip into classics (I know grim) like Pride and Prejudice or read historical fiction like Birdsong. I’m currently reading a non fiction book about a man who was a prisoner of war in Japan and loving it.

These rare detours I take from YA fantasy give me new prospectives, new stories and, if nothing else, a small break from a genre of books which, let’s face it, are all eerily similar. But I find myself wanting to read away a lot less now I’m a blogger.

I always seem to be following the hype to the latest big release and missing the small gems in the middle

The way I used to pick up books has changed. I used to walk into my local library and skim my fingers over glossy covers, flick through front pages and skim read blurbs until I’ve chosen a book. I didn’t trawl through endless Goodreads reviews, scroll through blogs or take recommendations. It was all very random. If you see strange and unheard of books featuring on my Top Ten Tuesday lists then this is why.

I’ve found hidden gems that never made it big, sat in lonely fandoms and met characters that are mostly unknown to many but a few. Not all bad really since I read more diversely.

There’s something relaxing about reading a book with no hype, having no spoilers and no expectations.

You can blog about an unknown novel and feel you’re really helping that author, if you enjoyed their book. You won’t join a batch of fifty other bloggers reviewing the book that week, your opinions feel a tad more fresh and more unique.

And if you manage to find a rare individual who has also read that novel it’s amazing. You can compare notes and swap opinions in a way that is more personal way than the short bursts of ‘ah I loved that book’ I seem to send when the novel is hyped up.

But I was finding myself more often in a slump. I remember reading a book called Hunting Lila that wasn’t awful but was very meh. At least with a hyped book you know what your getting.

Books don’t always live up to their hype but if they’re well known they will rarely leave you in a slump

At least that’s what I’ve found. Even if the books awful I’ll usually push on to finish it just so I can add my two pence to the excited conversations on twitter about the novel. So I could conspire about the sequels and understand the jokes or quotes being tossed around. Fickle I know but I like to feel involved.

And then there’s the small snag of my blog. I can rave, review and mention (sorry couldn’t think of another r word there) about all the niche novels in the world and not get the same interaction on my tweets, Instagram or blog that I would when chatting about one big release. And I didn’t start a blog to sit the corner and be lonely.

Whether you love or hate a hyped up book you can always chat to someone about it.

I don’t want to just read what everyone else is reading but at the same I time I sort of… do? It drives traffic and interaction to my blog like those niche little reads.

So, overall, you’ve read this entire post and come in true Hannah style to no conclusion. Is reading loads of hyped books a problem? I guess I’d conclude that it’s all about balance and reading what you feel like without stressing too much about missing those big new releases, because sometimes the smaller releases are just as good.

Lets Compare Notes

Would love to hear your opinion on the topic! Am I mad, do you agree? Is this post on rather a null point (I’ll try not take offense 😝)? Feel free to leave a comment!

Books That Made Us Want to Visit a Location

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities12 Comments

Hello! Prepare to get totally bombarded by me posting in the next few days. With this today, Top Ten Tuesday tomorrow, a YALC recap after I had the most amazing weekend (ahh!) and having just finished Children of Blood and Bone (I need to vent my feels into a review because ahhhh it was amazing). Let’s just the blog is going to be very busy in the next week or so.

But anyway, on with the Blog Hop, which I signed up to write today. Today’s post is all about places we’d love to visit thanks to books set in exotic and charming locations!

My Answer

You’d think being a keen fantasy reader I’d not really want to visit any of the worlds I read about, and yet so many spring to mind. And no I don’t mean the horrors of Panem.

The breath-taking views of the Scottish Highlands in Harry Potter, not to mention the magical castle of Hogwarts (I may have finished education but I’m still waiting on that letter). The tumbling metropolis of New York that’s always bustling with life in The Mortal Instruments series. Even the quant country lanes that Skulduggery Pleasant guides his Bentley down in Ireland.

In fact I’ve written a whole Top Ten Tuesday about all the places I’d love to visit thanks to books. Now we can see what’s on the other bloggers’ bucket lists!

location

Marcia Marques from Trendy Simple Life

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I’m a big fan of Anne Rice and the first time I read Interview with the Vampire, I knew I had to go to New Orleans. I love New Orleans and just recently went back there to celebrate my husband’s birthday.

Allie Block from Girl With a Book and Her Dog

I have always wanted to go to Ireland. I love reading Nora Robert’s Irish romance novels. It is so breath taking!

Leslie Conzatti from Upstream Writer

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Pretty much every book I have ever read and loved makes me want to visit the location–it would be one of the reasons I love the book! Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl described the stately Deep South of Georgia in such dreamy terms that I immediately wanted to go visit the area to see for myself! The Dawn of Steam Trilogy by Jeffrey Cook made me proud to be a Pacific Northwesterner, because some of the regions he describes in the book are actually here in Oregon! From the way she describes the places, I would want to explore the hitherto-unnamed world of The Chronicles of Lorrek by Kelly Blanchard. I just want to live inside the books I read!

Casia Schreyer

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For a realistic setting, Victorian London. Sherlock Holmes, of course, is a huge draw, but also the Anne Perry mysteries.
Fantasy – Middle Earth, of course, where I will dine all day with fine Hobbits for friends.
Science-Fiction – I want to go to Arakas, before the rains came, and see the vast expanse of sands, the cave cities of the Fremen, and the worms. (Dune)

Brandy Potter from Brandy Potter Books

bpSo mine is a fantasy novel. Many of you who know me well will think that I am about to say Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but that is only because my favorite fantasy author is a bit obscure. His name is David Eddings. The first series I read from him is called The Elenium and I desperately wanted to be part of that world (Yes I am now singing Part of your world stop laughing at me.) But I loved the characters and the variety in the landscapes, religions and such. Theto have the misunderstood part of that world come to life in The Tamuli series was like Christmas for me. It was sooooooo awesome!!!!!!

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So there we have it! All the places we long to travel to, real and not so much. What about you? Where do you most want to visit from a novel? Have you been to any of the places we’ve listed, just to make us jealous? Did you write a similar Top Ten Tuesday? Love to hear from you guys in the comments!

The other stops on this blog hop are:

One Book at a Time or Several at Once?

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities25 Comments

Look who’s back! I am totally gutted to not have been able to post anything on my blog in a week, not even a Top Ten Tuesday 😥 , due to being buried waist deep in the rubble that is my flat under building works. I have just trodden on three nails in what used to be our kitchen and a radiator leaked over my books, suffice to say I am not enjoying this.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel because today is my official graduation ceremony! And despite the massive spot (I’m fairly sure I’m growing a new limb here it’s so big) that’s popped up on my chin seemingly overnight I am determined to have a good day and say a proper goodbye to the university I’ve loved for three years.

Anyway today I’m once again hosting a stop on The Bookish Summer Blog Hop, a blog hop that runs between July 1st-31st. My previous hosting stop is here: You’re Halfway Through a Book & not Loving it. Quit or Committed?

But on with todays topic, which is: One Book at a Time or Several at Once?

My Answer

Don’t let the imminent degree I’m about to be awarded confuse you, I am easily confuddled. I get confused just following a series with intermittent other books between (like I’m sure Percy Jackson went to Hogwarts at some point?? And didn’t Klaus Baudelaire get sent to dig holes in a dessert at obedience camp one time??).

My point is that reading multiple books at once would be way too hard for me. So I guess I’m a one book reader kind of person!

onebook

Jo Linsdell from her blog Jo Linsdell

jlIt depends. I prefer to concentrate on just the one book, but I will sometimes have multiple books on the go at once. Usually when I’m reading more than one they will be very different though. E.g. one novel, one non fiction, one audiobook… I then hop between them depending on my mood.

Marcia Marques from Trendy Simple Life

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I usually read 2 or 3 books at a time, plus an audiobook in my dar for my daily commute. I know it sounds confusing, but they are always different genres and I pick up where I left off depending on my mood.

Kelli Quintos from Tangled in Text

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I have gotten in trouble with this answer because sometimes I can personally handle it and sometimes all the books I’m attempting to read get jumbled up together and it turns out horribly. I had one time where I was reading two books that had the same character names. It was a disaster and I was constantly getting their backstories confused. Other than that, I’m usually perfectly fine reading three to four books at a time. I try to keep them all in different genres and even different formats if possible. Currently I’m listening to one sci-fi book with my husband during our car rides, I’m listening to a romance on my own during my daily commute by myself, I’m reading one physical thriller book in the mornings, then a non-fiction ebook at night.

Leslie Conzatti from Upstream Writer

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I tend to read multiple books at once, for the same reason I tend to have multiple writing projects at once: different genres go with different moods. Sometimes I might be in the mood for a thriller, sometimes I might feel more like a fantasy. When I don’t particularly feel like trucking a stack of books around, I have my Kindle library to work my way through. I used to be able to read three books at once, back when I would blow through about 8-10 books in a single month. Nowadays, though, it’s more like I do two books at a time, and usually end up finishing one before the other. One thing is certain–I’m always reading!

Allie Block from Girl With a Book and Her Dog

I can only read one book at a time! My attention span doesn’t leave room for more than 1 book!

Casia Schreyer

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More than one, though I don’t read as much as I used to anymore. Typically I have a long-term book, something that I read a chapter or two from every few days, a bedtime book which is aimed at 6-9 year olds which I’m reading to my children, and a binge book, something I read through in 1 or 2 sittings.

Brandy Potter from Brandy Potter Books

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I don’t have time to read these days so one at a time is all that I can handle. However, I have been known to be listening to one and reading another and watching another on what seems like repeat… example: Reading THe Collector, Listening to Phantom Evil and watching Mansfield park like several times. Might be where I got one of my book ideas with the cross over in my noggin. Never know…. (starts thinking)
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It was actually a lot easier to host this time since I may have cheated and just copied over the HTML from last time and changed a few things, but shhhhh.

Do you two-time your books or give them the special treatment of being your sole read? Can you hold multiple plots, bad guys, characters and life in your head all at once without mixing up who’s who? Love to hear your opinion on this topic!

The other stops on this blog hop are:

 

You’re Halfway Through a Book & not Loving it. Quit or Committed?

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities28 Comments

What’s this? A post on Tuesday AND Wednesday?? I know what you’re thinking- that I have no life. You wouldn’t be wrong but there is a special reason I’m posting oddly frequently- I’m hosting a stop on The Bookish Summer Blog Hop, a blog hop that runs between July 1st-31st

And since this involves liaising everyone else’s answers I have to act responsible and not just warble on for a whole post as per. I’ve already started warbling about warbling, so we’re off to a great start.

Here’s the big questions (also featured in the title): You’re halfway through a book & not loving it. Quit or committed?

My Answer

As a dedicated, efficient, totally not easily distracted reader I would put the book down for a little while… and definitely, maybe, potentially  coming back to it later…

It’s just novels are so often topical and sometimes I’m just not feeling a certain book at that moment? Like if I’m in the middle of perilous exams that will decide my fate and the change the world forever, or at least my school would have me believe, then I’m not going to read a book about a tightrope walker walking between New York skyscrapers while dangling 3 orphaned children and a dog. Because STRESS.

Now lets look at what some of my new blog hop friends (the term friends being used very loosely here, we’re all in a Facebook group together but that’s about).

BTW no copying my tightrope idea- totally going to make that into a bestseller one day.

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Jo Linsdell from her blog Jo Linsdell

jlIf I get half way through I’ll carry on until the end. I’ve read some books that were very slow going at the beginning but then picked up towards the end. That said, if a book is really dragging and I’m still only a short way through I will put it aside.

Marcia Marques from Trendy Simple Life

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My TBR is so big right now that I have become selective and no longer push through to finish it (unless it’s one of the books in my book club).

Kelli Quintos from Tangled in Text

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I used to pride myself on never not finishing a book I started, but last year I wasted so much time on making myself finish some pretty dry books. That caused me to get into a reading slump for about three months.

I try to find the light in any book because I can appreciate how much time and effort authors put into them, but I’ve decided to stop taking finishing a book so personally. If it’s slow or I’m just not getting into it, it doesn’t mean it’s not a great book, it’s just not the book for me and I don’t want reading to start feeling like a chore. If I don’t like a book, I’ll move on to the next.

Rachael Beardsley from Variance Fiction

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If you’d have asked me a few months ago, I would have said I always finish a book. But now, I’d have to say that time is too scarce and there are way too many good books out there to waste time on something I’m not enjoying!

Allie Block  from Girl With a Book and Her Dog

This is an easy one for me. If I am halfway thru the book and not dying to know the end, I just stop. There is not enough time to read books I don’t enjoy!

Casia Schreyer

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I’ll take a difficult book in stages. I’ll read until I can’t and then put it down. If it was really bad I may never come back to it. If it wasn’t that bad, or just slow, or just not what I needed at the time, I’ll usually go back to it. I’ve been lucky, I’ve hit very few bad or dry books so far.

Now, short stories is a different matter. Since I started publishing anthologies I’ve had to read anywhere from 16 to 260 short stories every 2 month reading period. There have been a few stories that I haven’t finished reading. There have been a few stories that I wish I hadn’t finished reading!

Brandy Potter from Brandy Potter Books

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Sooooooo I USED to push through it, but my writing time is becoming so precious. The author has 10 chapters to snag me. If it doesn’t speed up then out the window. 🙂

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Wow who’d have known blog hop hosting would be so much work! What’s your opinion on quitting v continuing on a book you’re not enjoying? Love to hear from you in the comments section!

The other stops on this blog hop are:

 

Mid Year Freak Out Tag

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities21 Comments

We are so not half way through 2018?! Um, that’s not allowed. I saw this tag over on Kelly’s blog and thought it looked fun to do! I’m off to Brussels today and have to go buy Euros and pack but, you know how I’m super responsible, so I’m writing this instead!

1. Best Book You’ve Read This Year?

Surprisingly, I’d go Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, because it was a cute love story that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy!

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read in 2018?

This is easily Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton which is a great sequal to Rebel of the Sands!

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To?

Sky in the Deep because Vikingssssss

4. Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year?

Spinning Silver and totally not because the cover is so pretty….

5. Biggest Disappointment?

I hate to say type it but The Exact Opposite of Okay was a bit of a disappointment 😦 it was a good book, and I liked the message, but it was very slow.

6. Biggest Surprise?

Blackbird by ND Gomes! I thought it would be a horror or a not very great fantasy but it was actually a fairly interesting and easy to read mystery!

7. Favourite New To You Or Debut Author?

I may have not got a review up yet (oops) but Samantha Shannon! Having just started The Bone Season I’m hooked 😀

8. Newest Fictional Crush?

Would it be totally awful if I said no-one?? Up your game YA 😉

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9. Newest Favourite Character?

Ajita from The Exact Opposite of Okay because sass.

10. Book That Made You Cry?

Because I’m made of stone very few books have actually made me cry, but when I was a kid anything Michael Morpurgo would get me close. The only one I recall crying at was Waiting for Anya, at the very end when Anya shows up… *sobs*

11. Book That Made You Happy?

Anything by Rick Riordan- his books are just so sweet with how much everyone helps each other and the character progression gives me all the feels.

12. Favourite Book-To-Film Adaptation?

*grumble grumble* book to film *grumble grumble* But there is one adaptation I think was done really well and that’s The Hunger Games.

13. Favourite Post You Have Done This Year?

Top Ten Tuesday: Frequently Used Words In YA Fantasy, ok, yes, I totally misread the topic and should have been talking about words in titles that appear a lot not novels. Buuut this topic was really fun for me anyway- there are so many overused words in YA!

14. Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year?

I recently brought Children of Blood and Bone and it’s been all over my bookstagram since- it’s so photogenetic!

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of the Year?

TOO MANY BOOKS DON’T STRESS ME LIKE THIS! But if I have to choose just one I’ll go Throne of Glass because it’s everywhere and how have I avoided reading it??!

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There’s my list from the beginning of 2018! I’m far too friendless to tag someone so if you fancy doing this tag and are avoiding packing too then consider yourself TAGGED!

What are your answers to the questions? Do you think film adaptations are the worse things since Veronica Roth said ‘let’s make a sequal’ not very good? Or do you like them? Let me know in the comments!