Thursday, October 24, 2013

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts {1}

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is a random posting of what's on my mind bookish and otherwise. Sometimes 10 things, sometimes less, always hosted by Bookishly Boisterous.
  1. I love that everyone is so excited about Allegiant this week, but I only made it 15% into Insurgent before someone completely spoiled Allegiant. It makes me so sad and so angry that people would willingly spoil a book for others when they obviously couldn't wait to read it themselves. I was at the front of the library line for Allegiant so at least I made someone very happy by returning it on day 2. I'm not even going to bother reading any further. I'm going to be one of those people that will JUST WATCH THE MOVIE.


  2. I'm excited about the Republic of Thieves read-along. I love participating in blog read-alongs, and Andrea over at The Little Red Reviewer really does it the right way with discussion questions and the whole nine. I wish there were more read-alongs like it in the blogosphere.

  3. I am so over writing reviews right now. I'm trying to figure out how to talk about the books I read in a less formal way. Posts like these are part of my solution. If you have any advice or have found anything that has worked for you, I'd love to hear from you.

  4. I was going to post that my Anthology Month has been a bust so far, but I started a book last night that has renewed my anthology spirit. I have two anthologies picked out for Halloween week next week, so I'm feeling good about my endeavour.

  5. I try my best to stay anti-review copy, but I couldn't help but grab the first two A Tale Dark & Grimm off of Edeilweiss. I'm weak.


  6. There is a Kickstarter project for The Princess Bride playing cards. I love these. They doubled their goal in the first 24 hours so it sounds like they may keep growing the project. The work they did on The Call of Cthulhu deck is amazing. :nerding out completely:


    Good night, backer. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.

  7. i09 posted the Top 25 Scariest Science Fiction and Fantasy TV Episodes of All Time. It's a really great list with lots of great episodes to reminisce about. One of my favorite TV episodes of all time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Hush". That was a perfect hour of television. Do you remember the episodes that made the list? I immediately thought of a couple that could have made the list:
    • “The Tale of the Lonely Ghost” - Are You Afraid of the Dark
    • "Imaginary Friend" - Star Trek: The Next Generation

  8. Do you guys feel strange when you have "real life" conversations about books? I do. I feel like I'm some sort of a double agent.

  9. Ana's review of Doll Bones by Holly Black over at things mean a lot has had me thinking a lot this week about why I loved that book and what kids go through as they grow older. I see my 6 year son already going through the struggles of growing up and finding his place now that he is in school.

  10. All of my son's school work this month has been ghost and goblins related. Can I just say I never want October to end? The spooky stuff is everywhere, and it really is my happy place.

Jennifer

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20 comments:

  1. I like the numbered post. It's clean and easy to read. SUCKS that someone spoiled the end for you. I hate that! That's happened to me a lot. I think that's part of my slump right now too and you put it into words "I'm over writing reviews." I still do want to share my thoughts on books though...

    The playing cards look cool. I'll have to pick up the Cthulu ones for my friend. I don't want October to end either. I get really depressed...me and my friends call it PHD. Post Halloween Depression.

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  2. I'm SO sorry someone ruined Allegiant for you. I managed to avoid all the spoilers before reading it.

    I've been doing more posts like this as well and if you every find a way to talk about a book without reviewing let me know lol I keep trying to think of something because "real" reviews are just sucking the joy out if it for me.

    I've been doing groups of mini reviews which I really enjoy but then I feel like I need at least 3-4 similar books for that type of post.

    Oh the blogging angst! haha

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    Replies
    1. I've been planning some mini reviews as well. I've let so many books go by without reviewing at all. You do similar books at one time? That's an interesting idea. I need to give some thought to that.

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  3. I know what you mean about reviews. I realised recently that my reviews are becoming a little too formal for my liking and it doesn't help that I'm behind on my reviews so I've been trying to catch up, lol. I'm still figuring it out xD

    Ooh, I haven't read that io9 post yet! I'm happy that Doctor Who's "Midnight" made it on the list, that was a pretty frightful episode (and very well done). Hmm, I don't remember that Quantum Leap episode but yes to the Firefly episode--Reavers are just =S

    A bit off-topic but I noticed on your currently reading sidebar that you're reading Leckie's book! How are you finding it? I've heard wonderful things about it, hoping to read it for myself at some point :)

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    1. Yes! I put Ancillary Justice on hold to finish another book I really needed/wanted to finish, but AJ is unlike anything I have ever read. It is a lot to wrap my mind around so far, but I'm enjoying it.

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  4. I don't know if it will help you at all, but I used to struggle with formal reviews a lot, too. I kept trying to push myself into a mold of "professional reviewer" when that's the exact opposite of what I read reviews for. My favorite type of reviews are reviews like Ana's, that you linked to, where *her perspective* is what makes the review so valuable. I like reviews that feel personal, intimate, and make me feel closer to the reviewer so I empathize with how they felt about the book (or film, or show, or album). Once I figured out what I liked about the reviews I do read, I looked at how I was writing, and discovered that the "formal" feeling I was getting was me trying to put too much distance between the book and myself, because that's how most blog reviews read to me, this struggle for objective observation. So I just....stopped. I sat down and wrote a review (I think it was of Ash, by Malinda Lo) and wrote it like I would if I were just talking to my friends.

    It helped me immensely.

    The again, it did mean that all my reviews got really long and often dipped into spoiler territory more than they had before, and people commented less. But I was so much HAPPIER, and therefore spent less time worrying and more time reaching out to find new voices and perspective. So often we miss that book blogging isn't just about reading, but writing, and writing reviews, which are a narrative themselves, is hard. You've got to find the type of writing you love, and run with it. That's the way you'll find your voice again.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Renay. That does help a lot! I already think of my reviews as sort of a kitchen table conversation which helps tremendously, but I can tell from reading your comment that I do a lot to stifle my own voice.

      I do worry about spoilers a lot. That is one of my main concerns, but I've never played around with warning about spoilers. It is something to think about. I do need to find a style that I love.

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  5. This was such a great post. I'm so with you in regards to Hush perfect hour of television indeed.

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    1. Thanks, Kristin. I enjoyed writing this post. I will definitely do these more often.

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  6. I'm sorry, what, did you just say Princess Bride!? My all time favorite everything! I am definitely contributing to that kickstarter.

    I absolutely never want October to end either! It is my favorite month ever. Oo I am all about favorites right now. Lol.

    I am with you about writing reviews. I struggle with that same issue. I find it helps when I drink wine. ;) Actually all kidding aside, it is something I am working on too. I think I get into a school marm mode or something, where I feel like I am writing a report for school, and forget I can relax and be me. But I am trying to fix that.

    This post was wonderful, I loved it!

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    Replies
    1. Heehee. YES! The Princess Bride. :D Wine is a good suggestion. I can roll with that. Thank you so much, Erin.

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  7. Writing reviews... I usually write detailed and quite long reviews. But every so often I break it up with something completely different eg. http://booksaremyfavouriteandbest.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/the-post-office-girl-by-stefan-zweig/ and more recently this http://booksaremyfavouriteandbest.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/mad-about-the-boy-by-helen-fielding/ I have found that changing the style every so often keeps it fun.

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    1. Thank you for showing me examples! Those were really fun reviews. I love that. They made me smile. I'm loving these ideas.

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  8. I struggle with writing reviews too. I try to break it up by including a personal conection to the book (if I had one) or sometimes I do a top ten reasons to love this book in place of a formal review. It makes it a bit less formal and more fun.

    I love October. I look forward to it all year and I'm always sad to see it go.

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    1. Aw, the top ten reasons is such a cute idea. You guys are so creative. I'm so appreciative of all the fun ideas.

      Delete
  9. OK Princess Bride playing cards? That is such a cool idea and I need to check that out. Awesome. And I totally agree about October- we still have a week and I'm already kinda bummed its almost over. Love this time of year and spooky stuff!!

    Oh and I've seen several people say the same thing about the Allegiant spoilers. How aggravating.

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  10. Ugh. I hate when people spoil books in their review. I have actually get on people's cases who haven't hidden their spoiler reviews on Goodreads before. Makes me so mad because even though I try not to read them, I catch things as I'm scrolling around. I've purposely avoided blog posts that are about books I'm excited to read because I don't want anything ruined.

    Anyway, I was just saying I wanted to watch The Princess Bride again the other day. Those playing cards are awesome!

    I'm sick of writing reviews too. It's so boring and I'm not sure it's even that fun for other people to read. I need to figure out a new way to talk about books that I've read. I've been feeling that reviewing just puts too much pressure on me to think too deeply into a book or get a book finished quickly, etc.

    And I love that list of scary TV shows. I'm totally going to see if I can find some of them on Hulu or Netflix and watch them.

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  11. I don't do full on reviews for every book I read because I know I'd get burnt out too. I do a monthly round up with quick blurbs and mention them occasionally. I think, for me, part of that comes from the fact I don't really enjoy reading reviews. I know, blasphemous coming from a book blogger! I love reading about peoples' interactions with books, their thoughts on the industry, and fun bookish posts they come up with, but as a whole I stay away from reviews (especially for books I've never read).

    Thanks so much for participating! Hope to see you next week!

    ReplyDelete

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