Discussion: Netgalley is Killing Me

I have recently discovered that I have the awful habit of requesting books that I think I'll find interesting, only to find that they are completely not what I was hoping for. At all. Like, they're really bad. I try to expand my interests and try out new things, and it doesn't always work out well for me. I recently picked up a book that I THOUGHT was about the intersection of sex and the body positivity movement. And then I realised that it was a big old pile of body shaming dreck. NO THANK YOU.

And I don't know what to do. Can I just DNF it? Haven't I agreed to read this book and give it a fair shot? Don't I have to finish it and write a review saying all of the things I hated about it? I don't want to do that, but I need to give feedback, right? Otherwise my review ratio will go right down the toilet (not that it's not already pretty close to that).

I also recently got a book through Netgalley that was described as a lesbian fantasy novel. The blurb sounded awesome. It wasn't like anything I'd seen before. And then I started reading it and it was just weirdly written erotica. I don't do erotica. What do I do??? Maybe I just need to do some closer reading of descriptions before hitting that request button.

My face when I started reading Out of This World

What are your thoughts? What do you do when you request a book that is absolutely not what you thought it would be and you just can't bring yourself to read it? Do you push through and produce a crappy review or do you just pretend it doesn't exist like I do?

Discussion Post - Book Buying

I've been feeling a lot of pressure lately. And I know that it's all in my head, but it's stressing me out nonetheless. I've suddenly been hit by the pressing desire to own ALL OF THE BOOKS. Which requires me to purchase all of the books. Less appealing.

Dream big, Rose

As a general rule, I don't buy books. 90% of what I read is from the library, and the other 10% is ARCs. I wish I could afford to buy all of the books I want to, but I just cannot afford it. Books are expensive, yo! I'm a poor university student who lives off of student loans and very part time jobs (as in, 8-15 hours a week). I can barely cover my rent most of the time. And if I have to choose between a book or groceries, or a book or a new dress from H&M, the book never seems to win out. The only books I ever seem to buy are school texts. And I hate it.

I've been splurging a bit lately - in the past seven days, I've bought four (FOUR) books. I've been adding and deleting books on my Amazon Wishlist. I've had books on the brain all week and it's driving me insane. I have over $100 worth of books in my Amazon cart and I just don't have the money to purchase them despite how desperately I want to. It doesn't help that there are no used bookstores in my hometown, so if I decide to purchase from a local retailer I have no choice but to hit up the super-overpriced independent bookstore downtown. I like supporting local businesses, but I really don't like the hit my wallet takes.

I think a big part of the problem is seeing people rake in books week to week in their Stacking the Shelves or Weekly Wrap-Up style posts. I get jealous. I don't hold it against them, because I'm happy that other people are able to buy the books I cannot afford, but it makes me feel inadequate. Like I need to cut back in other areas of my life to fund my book habit, but I just don't know where to do so. Why can't I just be rich? That'd be the solution to all my problems. I feel like I need another job just to pay for all of the books I want. Unfortunately, jobs are tough to find in my neck of the woods. Until then, I'll just have to settle for library books. Which is really not a big deal for me - I love the library. I mean, I work there. It's a pretty important thing to me. But that doesn't mean I don't want to hoard all of the beautiful copies of my favourite books and display them on my shelves for all the world (read: nobody but myself) to see. 

Do you buy many books? Are you a library patron like me? How do you fund your book habit? Do you just starve yourself in anticipation of the next big book release so that you can buy that book straight away?

Writing Positive Reviews is Really Hard!

I'm generally a pretty positive person. I like to look on the bright side of life. But for some reason, this doesn't always seem to extend to blogging. I've been having a bit of a rough patch when it comes to writing reviews. I'm falling farther and farther behind, and I think I know why: I've been reading too many excellent books!

I have a really hard time writing positive reviews. It’s so much more difficult for me to pinpoint the things that make me love a book than it is to point out what makes me hate one. I find that when I read a book that I adored, I put off writing the review for ages and ages. Yet when I read one that I despised, I tend to write the review right away and get all of the nasty thoughts out of my head and onto the metaphorical page (because who writes by hand anymore??). I wish I could better articulate the way I feel about things that I like, because I generally don’t think of myself as a negative person. In life, I’m pretty upbeat and positive and optimistic, but it seems when it comes to reviews I’m a bit of a negative Nancy.

The book that inspired this post is Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, which I finished a few days ago and thought was fantastic, but I have no freaking clue what to write in my review. Maybe it’s because I take more notes on books that I’m not enjoying, whereas if I do like a book I just devour it all as quickly as possible and can’t be bothered to take the time out of my reading to take notes on what in particular is special about it.

How do you feel about this? Do you find writing positive reviews more difficult? Is it harder for you to look at books with a critical eye and pick them apart for a review? Any tips for making positive reviews a little easier for me?!

Music: Distracting or Relaxing?

Some people can only read in dead silence. Others have to have background noise or music playing in order to concentrate. A lucky few can read regardless of whatever is going on around them - they are able to completely tune out everything but the book. I envy those people.

I'm the kind of person who gets distracted by music. I can't set my iTunes to shuffle while I'm reading, but that is likely due to the kind of music-listener I am. I'm pretty much incapable of listening to music (that I know the words to) without singing along. This is not behaviour that is conducive to reading, as you can probably assume. I get too caught up in the music and end up losing my place on the page, or reading the same sentence over and over again without grasping the meaning of the words.

I want to be able to listen to music though. I love music, and I love reading, and I really really love multi-tasking. I'm the kind of girl who can't watch TV without something else to occupy me - I usually opt to play spider solitaire or browse Tumblr, but that's beside the point. What I'm trying to say is, I enjoy the way that listening to the right music really adds to the experience of reading a book. It just has to be instrumental.

When I first made the discovery that I could read to instrumental tracks, I downloaded the soundtrack of the first season of Game of Thrones along with a Doctor Who score album. One of these worked for me, the other did not. I found the recurring themes in the Game of Thrones soundtrack distracted me and pulled me out of the book. The Doctor Who scores worked better, but I didn't love it.

And then I turned to 8tracks. If you've never heard of it, 8tracks is a website that allows users to upload playlists (or mix tapes, if you will), and sort them using various tags. It is a godsend. I'm a big fan of searching for mixes with the tags instrumental + study. Nine times out of ten, they are perfect reading mixes.

Another cool thing I've recently discovered in the world of 8tracks is book-mixes. People create mixes that remind them of or are suited to listening to while reading certain books. 

Highlights

The Corporation Presents, a Beauty Queens fanmix, 

Oh, I've a Love, a Pippa/Felicity mix (from the Gemma Doyle trilogy)

We Make a Sensational Team, a Code Name Verity mix (which made me cry)

I'mma sneak in a few of my favourite TV fanmixes too, just because I can.

Broken Bombshells, a mix about my favourite power blondes Quinn Fabray (Glee) and Mini McGuinness (Skins) that I'm absolutely in love with

Fell in Love with a Girl, Have I mentioned how much I love allydia? I listened to this mix pretty much exclusively for about a month.

Because You're a Lannister. I saved the best for last. The description is "probably the contents of tywin's ipod". Enough said.

Do you listen to music when you read? Are you a big 8tracks fan like me? Have you ever listened to/made a fanmix for a book?

Shameless Plug: I may have dabbled in creating a few mixes myself. They're pretty rad. Check them out: Wanderloved.

Discussion Post (4) - New Adult AKA Erotica

I was so excited when I heard that New Adult was becoming a thing. I imagined books about university and adjusting and growing up and fending for yourself. I pictured living with roommates and cooking for yourself and figuring out how to juggle school and work and trying to have a social life. What I got was erotica.

I've heard some not-so-pleasant things about New Adult. I haven't read much of it because it all seems to be the same. Naive girl between the ages of 18-25 (usually on the younger end of the spectrum) meets a guy and they have lots and lots of sex while confusing lust for love. The guy is usually an abusive asshole. They live happily ever after.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they seem to be pretty rare. I really liked certain elements of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, which centred around a girl's difficult adjustment to college life and letting go of her past and trying to come out of her shell a bit. Obviously there were certain things I disliked about Fangirl, particularly when it came to Cath, but on the whole it was what I look for in a NA book. However, Fangirl was marketed as YA, not NA. I can only assume that this decision was made because of the fact that Fangirl does not contain any sex scenes. 

I've also heard great things about Tammara Webber's Easy around the blogosphere. It isn't something I'd pick up due to the cover or the blurb, but I plan to read it soon(ish) and find out what all the hype is about. It seems like a different take on the typical NA plot, and the love interest doesn't seem to be a total douchebag, which is nice.

But then there are books like Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, which seem to have influenced the category significantly. Another book I haven't personally read, Beautiful Disaster seems to be nothing more than a disaster of a book. I've heard that the love interest is absolutely awful, and that the main character has no backbone to speak of. I'm not here for that. This book wouldn't be a problem if it were a solitary incident, but there are so many copycat books out there. 

Also worth mentioning is the incredibly repetitive covers. I literally cannot tell these books apart because they all feature dark colours and kissing couples on the covers. 

See?

Even the books that are a bit different are boring and unprofessional looking. They just look cheap. Maybe it's dumb to judge a book by its cover, but a good cover goes a long way.

My final problem with New Adult is that I just don't really like reading sex scenes. I feel awkward and uncomfortable and tend to skim them, especially when things get really hot and heavy. No thanks. I prefer slow building in my romances rather than the characters jumping into bed together after exchanging about two sentences. It's just personal preference. It's the same problem that I have with urban fantasy.

Have you read any really great NA books? Do you think they're just erotica for a slightly younger age bracket? Are you as turned off by the covers as I am? Am I judging the category too harshly?

Discussion Post (3) - Series Overload

I feel like this is a problem that we all face as readers: too many series. I find it really hard to dedicate a long period of time and energy to the same story, which makes reading an entire series a bit of a problem for me. I mean, I'm a girl who gets bored if she reads the same book for longer than four or five days, so I'm pretty much incapable of reading series books one after the other. I have to take (long) breaks between books, which leads me to forget what happened in the first book, which leads to my forgetting about the book that I wanted to read altogether. It's not a good cycle.

I just checked my Goodreads, and I have 57 series that I intend to finish, but am at least one book behind on(usually more). Aside from that, my "first in series" shelf on Goodreads is 475 books deep. Yeah. It's excessive. I really do want to finish these series, but I get caught up in everything else that's out there. I'm easily distracted, okay. I 

That's not to say that I don't enjoy series. I do. I like reading a story that is expansive enough to fill up multiple books and keep me longing for more at the end of every book. For instance, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer is a great series. It is exciting and never repetitive, and each book builds on the last. It keeps my interest from page one until the very end, and that's exactly what I look for in a series. I also love that there are new elements to each book, with the addition of the new titular character (Scarlett and Cress, thus far). The same goes for George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series - it's dense and heavy and truly epic. It certainly wouldn't work if it was condensed into one long (long) book.

In all honesty, I think my main problem with series is that there are just so many books out there that I want to read! I get impatient and antsy because I just want to read everything, even though I know that it's not possible. There are so many standalones that want to be read. So many series to be read. By me. Immediately. So many books, so little time. Which reminds me of that short-lived Mary Kate and Ashley TV show from 2001. This is where a random number generator comes in mighty handy - I yield all choice in which book to read next and just let the computer decide for me!

Do you have series fatigue? Do you love series, or are you frustrated that every other book seems to be part of a series? Are you an impatient reader like me?

Discussion Post (2) - Book Slump

I've been in a book slump for the past five months.

I read a grand total of six books in January and February combined. This coming from a girl who typically reads between six to ten books a month. To compare, in the same time span last year I read fifteen books (most of which were significantly longer than the ones I tackled this year). That's not okay with me.

I genuinely don't understand how people have the time (and energy) to go to school full-time, work part-time, read, and run a blog. I really have to commend those people, as I clearly failed at half of those things this year.  I can't even imagine throwing a family (or friends, which I do not have) into the mix! Maybe it's the pressure of being in upper-level courses and wanting to get decent grades to eventually get into grad school. I'm not a natural scholar, much as my family chooses to believe otherwise, so it's very difficult for me to get good grades. I have a very short attention span and am very lazy, which is not a great combination. I am also a chronic procrastinator (I pulled at least four or five all-nighters to write papers this semester alone). I know people who work full-time with a full course load, but I am not a person who can operate like that. I get exhausted after sitting through two classes.

I've been reading a lot since I moved home at the beginning of April. In fact, in April alone I read seven books. It's not a huge number, but it's better. I'm feeling better. I've started scheduling posts again and I think that will really help me out. I'm getting back into the swing of things. Alas, I'm still unemployed (I really need to find a summer job ASAP), but at least I'm reading!

How do you juggle your responsibilities?What makes blogging so worth it?

Discussion Post (1) - "Book Boyfriends"

I've been wanting to start making regular discussion posts because I have a lot of opinions that I want to share with the world (yes, I was the kid who would never stop talking as a child). Without further ado, the topic of my very first discussion post:

Sometimes I feel like the odd one out when it comes to YA blogging. Yes, I have an itty bitty blog and was on a pretty massive hiatus, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about YA romance, and the boys in YA romance in particular.

I don’t have “book boyfriends”. There. I’ve said it. I just don’t find the guys in most YA books that memorable. Sure, there are some who are better than others, but they just aren’t at all the focus for me. It may have something to do with the fact that I don’t really like guys in general, but I get far far far more attached to the (usually female) protagonists than I do their love interests. And to be honest, I find myself sick to death of the horrendously formulaic approach to romance that I find in most YA, regardless of the sub-genre.

My biggest issue is probably lack of character development. I find that most of the guys in the books I read, particularly the ones who fail to catch/hold my interest are incredibly bland. For example, one of my favourite YA series of all time contains a love interest who I just don’t care that much about due to his apparent lack of actual personality. That would be Akiva from Laini Taylor’s wonderful Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. There are so many astounding characters in these books, but I just don’t like Akiva. The female characters especially are incredibly likeable and dynamic (Liraz, anyone??) but for the most part the dudes are just not that interesting. The only male character I grew attached to in any large measure was Ziri, who got shit on for the majority of the two books in which he existed.

My second issue is the extraordinary focus that gets laid on love interests in lieu of actual plot. I often pick up a book whose blurb described a very interesting story about personal discovery or of an important quest only to discover that what I thought the book was about has been waylaid by a boy. It’s just boring. I’m not interested in reading boy-meets-girl books that are disguised as adventure books or as books about mental illness or family problems. If I wanted a straight-up romance I would choose a book that describes itself as a romance. Case in point: Hourglass by Myra McEntire. It was a book about time travel! How cool is that! But no, it got bogged down by too much boy drama and insta-love and gag me with a spoon because that love interest was awful.

Which brings me to my third and final point: most of the guys in YA are terrible people. I know that there are some decent ones – all of the love interests in Sarah Dessen’s books come to mind – but I regularly think them not only unappealing but altogether loathsome. I’ll blame this on the Twilight effect. It seems ever since Twilight came along with its depiction of a unhealthily dependent, all-consuming relationship that so many YA books have decided to take that approach to writing romance. I find it so gross. YOUR BOYFRIEND SHOULD NOT TREAT YOU LIKE CRAP. Enough said. (But actually, there is a lot more to say on this topic).

These are just a few of the reasons why I, unlike many other YA bloggers, do not have any “book boyfriends”. Also, I find it kind of creepy. And I would be really embarrassed of squealing over my love for fictional boys. Kind of hypocritical of me, considering my adoration and eternal defense of amazing ladies like Sansa Stark and Sydney Sage (don’t even get me started on my TV girls. Quinn Fabray is the love of my life, and I will defend Helena from Orphan Black until I go blue in the face).

Maybe it’s all just because I’m a super-queer and find girls infinitely more relatable that guys. Who freaking knows.

What are your thoughts on “book boyfriends” and the prevalence of romance in YA?