Hey everyone! This is going to be a pretty short post, but I’m currently in a little debate here and I’m unsure over what to do, so I’m turning to you guys! It might seem kind of silly that I’m stuck over a seemingly easy question, but oh well. You guys all know by now that I can be really indecisive about things, right? 😛
So, I passed my Goodreads goal! A while ago, it seems. I didn’t realize for a while since I kind of lost touch with updating my reading status for the books I read, but recently I decided to add the books I had read over the past couple of months to my Goodreads shelf. And so I found that I have passed my goal of 150 books—by give or take 10 books! I definitely didn’t expect that. But now, I’m faced with the ultimate question.Should I increase my goal or should I just keep it at what I have now?? I mean, there’s still a month and a half left of 2015 for me to get some reading done, right? Not that school is going to let me do that, but you know what I mean.
Which is why I need some help. And some opinions! Have you completed your goal already? What did you do? And even if you haven’t reached your goal yet, I’d still love to know what you think! Tell me below how your challenges are going, and whatever thoughts you may have! I’d appreciate even the tiniest comment. 😉
Hi there! I didn’t get the chance to post yesterday’s ABEA topic (Visual Expressions/Social Media) so I’m going to be mixing that in along with today’s (Character Chatter/Blogging 101).
Social Media
How do you use social media to expand your blogging/writing horizons? Social Media is all about networking and connections, and utilizing today’s technology to the fullest. Make sure you mention your own social media pages. Do you have another blog, maybe a Tumblr? Have a Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook? Or maybe there’s an underrated social media program that you like.
I don’t know whether this counts (I’m pretty sure it does though) but I use Goodreads for adding books to my TBR and making friends with other readers. I also use Goodreads for my reviews (book information like publisher, genre, page count, ISBN, and official synopsis of a book). Other than that I cross-post my reviews on Goodreads as well, and I love using it to interact with other readers and seeing what books are trending, interesting, etc.
As far as other social media platforms are concerned, I actually made a Twitter account only a couple of days ago. I didn’t have one before, but seeing so many bloggers having an account and utilizing it for blogging and connecting with people, I decided to make an account as well. As I just started using it I can’t really say if it’s good or not, but I’m liking it so far! 🙂 I can connect with so many authors, and other bloggers, and it’s lots of fun. ❤
I don’t have Tumblr, Instagram or Facebook, but I might make an account depending on how useful they are! This is where your thoughts come in handy: what are your opinions on these social media platforms (if you use them)? Let me know in the comments below, your opinions really help!
Your opinion matters! What social media do you like to use?
Character Chatter
It’s time to give your favorite characters some love! Characters are essential to a story, and they can make or break a book for some readers. Now’s your chance to shine the spotlight on your favorite characters, or maybe your least favorite. Who’s your favorite couple? What are the components of a well written character? What are you favorite or least favorite cliches associated with characters?
Characters are one of the most important factors for me when judging and reading a book. After all, they are the story tellers, the people we get connected to throughout the book. If I didn’t like them, chances are I didn’t like the book, since if I don’t like the people we spend the most time with, I won’t like the overall story.
Anyway, I’m happy to say that throughout my reading years, I haven’t come across many characters that I genuinely hate or extremely dislike. However, there were characters whose POVs I did not enjoy, such as Amy from Flash Point by Nancy Kress. (You can check out my review on that here.) Then there are POVs I did enjoy, like Warner from Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi (You can check out my review on that here.) Specifically, I LOVED his POV. Other POVs I enjoyed were Percy from the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, Tessa from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, Penryn from Penryn & the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee, etc.
What these POVs have in common is that they all are relatable in some way, or, in the case of Warner, tug on the heartstrings. Percy keeps me smiling throughout the story, and is just simply so relatable that I can’t help but enjoy him. Tessa loves to read, and her personality reminds me of myself sometimes. Penryn is just so witty and interesting that I also enjoyed her POV. So I guess what I’m trying to say here is that well-written characters should be relatable and interesting, or else I end up not really caring about the character or finding him/her boring. Oh, and an honourable mention: Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. A no-brainer! She’s loyal, smart and witty, not to mention she loves books! We’d be besties.
Because I want to go curl up with a book right now, I’m going to finish this off with a quick list of my favorite book couples:
Hiya! Time for an Exploring My Bookshelves post, a meme hosted by Victoria @ Addlepates & Book Nerds. It’s lots of fun, and all you have to do to join in is:
1. Post a picture of your bookshelves (preferably literal, but e-book shelves work too)
2. Follow the theme/question about the books on your shelf that Victoria will have set out for us for that week. (Eg. favourite author, cover, etc.)
3. Include the cover and what you thought of it (if it’s read).
4. Link your post!
Last week’s theme was: books you bought the instant they were released
Cover links to Goodreads
Cover links to Goodreads
You know what’s sad? Even with all my bookish fangirling and obsessions, I can’t name a book I bought the instant they were released. The earliest I would buy a book released would be maybe within two or three days of its release? Does that count? I’ll say it does, ’cause technically it’s still pretty close to when the book was released. I believe I bought The Heir by Kiera Cass within 3-5 days of its release, and bought The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West 2 days from its release. I think. Not sure. But pretty sure. So yeah!
This week’s theme is: books you want to keep for your kids (or have kept for you kids)
Ha ha I really can’t say! I suppose any of my favorite books. Simple answer, but it’s true! Harry Potter by J.K Rowling, for one. Roald Dahl’s books for sure. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, a book for when they’re older. Those kind of stuff! 😀
What have you answered for this week’s/last week’s Exploring My Bookshelves themes? Let me know in the comments below! I love to compare choices.
Hi there! Time for another Friday Finds! Can’t believe we’re like halfway through May. Everything flew by so fast! Anyway, I’ve had quite a busy week, and not in the mood to study, so I’ll probably go read for a bit and then hit the sacks. 🙂 So here are 6 of my finds (all titles link to Goodreads):
These all look like amazing reads, and the summaries I’ve read on them seem very interesting! ❤ Can’t wait to get to these! (Then again, I’ve been saying that for like, 2 months already and there are books I still haven’t gotten to…) There are so many other books I’ve recently added to my TBR, but unfortunately, I don’t have the time to list them all today.
What do you think of these finds? What are your Friday Finds? Link below or comment! I’d love to hear from you. 🙂
#TGIF
-A
Note: I will not be posting this week’s Exploring My Bookshelves, due to time issues. I’ll be posting it along with next week’s.
Time for another Friday Finds, a meme hosted by Jenn @ A Daily Rhythm! What we have to do is simply showcase the books we’ve recently found and added to our TBR. Although I would like to show 15 or something, I’m running a bit late on my schedule, so here are 6 (all titles link to Goodreads):
So that’s it for Friday Finds! I think I’ll be continuing to keep my Friday Finds at 6 books, because this went much faster than my usual Friday Finds. 😉 What books are on your TBR that you’ve recently discovered? Let me know in the comments below or link your post!
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Book Snacks 