Tag: discussion post

Discussion Post – Favourite/Least Favourite Fantasy Tropes

Today’s discussion post is all about fantasy tropes. In my last discussion post, I talked about some of the tropes I love in detail. I’ll touch on those briefly in this post, but the focus of this one is more about those I am less keen on.

To stress, these are all very common tropes in fantasy and whether I like or dislike them is entirely my preference. We’re all entitled to have differences of opinion. If you feel differently about any of these then I would love to hear why in the comments!

 

Tropes I Enjoy

 

Realistic magic systems

The main thing I love about realistic magic systems is that they ground a narrative. You’ll see in an opposite in the below section a little later, but when magic has rules, it can be easily understood by readers and not exploited. I’m not going to say much here because that will spoil my point below.

 

Reluctant Hero / Non-altruistic characters

Who doesn’t love a morally grey character? It seems it’s a bit of a trend at the moment, but I have enjoyed this since time began. Why do you think I love A Game of Thrones so much? I don’t think there is a single character who is purely good hearted and doesn’t do something wrong. Okay, well maybe Hodor… but that’s only because he lacks the wits to do so and he was surrounded by people who looked after him. Can you imagine what he could have been persuaded to do in Ramsey Bolton’s custody?

 

Medieval Setting

A Game of Thrones also fits nicely in this section. I really enjoy the medieval setting we see in a lot of fantasy. Saying that, I have branched out to read some Eastern inspired fantasy in the last 12-18 months and enjoyed that too. It just seems there is less of it in the market right now. I do intend to read more.

Back to medieval. It’s a setting I am well familiar with based on local history. I can look at castles and remnants of structures all around me and imagine the events of these books. I suppose it has that sense of grounding. Plus, I like the inevitable politics that come with such settings. It’s funny – I love it in books but couldn’t give a fig about real life politics…

 

Tropes I Don’t Like (at least not all the time)

My main issue with some fantasy tropes is not in the trope itself, but more how often it is used. When you read a lot of fantasy, you can quickly become bored if you find yourself reading the same thing over and over again! I found this as a teenager; I burned out when reading fantasy on repeat for exactly this reason.

Here are some of the tropes that I think are overused: –

 

Chosen one

Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time… even down to Harry Potter – The Chosen One is one of the most used tropes in the genre going. It makes for a very congested market and if you end up reading a lot of this, it can feel repetitive.

I enjoyed both Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. I want to read The Wheel of Time. Books that use this trope aren’t bad, and if they have something unique or well done about them, they stand out against the sea of other books trying to copy them and not quite hitting the mark.

It’s for this reason that I deliberately curtail the amount of fantasy I read. If I read it all the time like I used to as a teenager, I would quickly become bored.

 

Good vs Evil

Another overused trope, and one that I find a little simplistic, is the good vs evil plotline. For the same reasons as I mentioned above, its overuse makes it boring when read time and again.

Not only that, but the vast majority of people don’t sit on either end of this polarity, so I don’t find the trope all that reflective of reality. Remember A Game of Thrones and all that moral grey-ness? That’s my cup of tea any day of the week!

 

Quest plotline

There are great books out there that have quests as the integral plot device. Lord of the Rings and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series are easy examples that come to mind.

But again, these are just a handful of great books in a dense marketplace and can easily feel repetitive if read with other books featuring  small variation in between. There’s not much more to say here that I haven’t already…

 

Magic systems for plot convenience

The polar opposite to one of the tropes I love is magic systems used to cover up or make for an easy solution to a difficult situation.

For me, it’s a sloppy way for an author to resolve a problem they don’t want to consider too much. That may not even be their intention, but it comes across that way. I like plot lines and conflicts to be explored and resolved in a careful and considered way. If a character suddenly discovers they can use magic to do something they never even anticipated at a make or break point (and there are absolutely no hints in the lead up) then I’m just going to expect that the author devised it to get rid of a problem.

 

Those are my thoughts on my favourite and least favoured fantasy tropes! What are your thoughts? I’m especially interested to hear if your opinion differs to mine, so let’s have a chat in the comments.

 

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Discussion Post – Favourite Fantasy Tropes

In today’s discussion post, I’m looking forward to sharing some of my favourite tropes in the fantasy genre. As I’m sure you’re well aware by now, I read a lot of fantasy. I would safely say that the genre makes up about half of my reading overall. I started reading as a teenager, and it has been my favourite ever since then. So, I know exactly what I my favourite fantasy tropes are, and why!

 

Realistic Magic Systems

When it comes to magic in fantasy books, I like mine to err on the side of realism. There is nothing more frustrating than getting really into a book to come across a convenience in the plot facilitated by magic because the author didn’t know what else to do to get their main character out of their predicament.

With this in mind, you can probably understand why I am such a fan of Brandon Sanderson. A lot of his books contain magical systems, but they have limits. For example, in his Stormlight archive books, the magic system centres around electrical storm light, which is captured in crystals and stored until used. But, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Likewise, in his Mistborn series, there are physical limitations to the abilities many characters use. Firstly, abilities are limited by what metals individuals have affinity for. And likewise, when it comes to restrictions, they have to ingest the particular metal to be able to harness their powers. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Not only do these physical limitations make for a more realistic story, but more often than not, they provide some tension. The sign of a well thought out magic system, in my opinion, is if an author can deliberately write in these limitations, incorporate them somewhere in the plot to make for a tricky situation, and then have the main character figure out a plausible way of getting themselves out of said tight spot.

 

Reluctant hero / Non altruistic characters

Plenty of narratives throughout history have been written in a structure where characters are either inherently good or inherently bad. Think fairytales, for example. But the reality is, most people are neither. We all have some good, and we have some bad, and that all combines to make us the morally grey people we are.

I like this to reflect in the fantasy I read, and especially so in the protagonist role. There are plenty of books I’ve read with this kind of character in mind. The Raven’s Mark trilogy by Ed McDonald is the first that comes to mind. There are much larger examples of this amongst my reading. Why do you think I’m such a fan of A Game of Thrones? There are no significant characters in that book that come out clean, shall we say.

 

Medieval setting

Whilst I have branched out somewhat in the last 12 months in trying to read more eastern inspired fantasy, I have a read far more that are inspired by a medieval European setting. Think large castles surrounded by vast swathes of villages, farmland and homesteads of the common people. It is very heavily used by Western fantasy writers, and I’m not even mad about it. I really enjoy this type of setting and it’s familiarity.

That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed branching out. In fact, it is something I’m going to be looking to doing more of in future!

 

Those are my top three fantasy tropes!

Are there certain tropes in fantasy you love reading again and again? Are there any fantasy tropes you really don’t like? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

 

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Discussion Post: The Benefits of Joining a Book Club

There are so many benefits to joining a book club… and sharing a handful of these benefits is the purpose of today’s discussion post. A few months ago, I joined an online community and started reading along with Ezeekat’s book club on Fable.

Now more than ever, it is easy to join in! The effect of COVID-19 is that a lot of these previously in-person events went virtual. As someone who lives in a relatively small community, I have been unable to find a reading group locally. However, my brief experience of the online book club I have joined has been an enjoyable one. In this discussion post, I discuss a few of the benefits I have already enjoyed being a part of this group!

 

Accountability to read

One of the perks I don’t necessarily need as much, but will benefit other people greatly, is having accountability to pick up a book. I already read on a regular basis anyway. However, even for somebody who picks up books a lot, having a set read to pick up in a month and a conversation to take part in is motivation to get stuck in.

If you are someone who doesn’t read all that much, then having a deadline or a date in order to submit feedback by, can be the nudge in the right direction! What can be especially useful about platforms like Fable is that a book club host can prompt readers to offer feedback by chapter or section. That way, if you don’t get all the way through the book, you can still have your say. It’s also at your convenience, and however far you get!

At the same time, it’s okay to skip a month. I really wasn’t interested in last month’s book selection. So, I made the decision not to try and force myself through it and discussed that briefly in my March TBR post. And that was fine! There were no repercussions or callouts for making that decision. Ultimately, we want to read because it is something we enjoy… not because it is a chore we must endure.

Not every book will be for you, and there is no shame in choosing not to pick it up.

 

Reading out of comfort zone

Book clubs come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you choose to join one that focuses on a set genre, or even author, or go for something significantly broader, there is one out there for you.

Ultimately, the kind of group you decide to join will affect the book selections you are given. The broader the topic, the more adventurous I would recommend you being with your reading. I have favourite genres, but ultimately, I will pick almost anything up and give it a go. In fact, the main reason I wanted to join a book club is to help me read out of my comfort zone!

The book club I am part of at the moment tends to stick to books with a fantastical element. Readers of my blog will know that fantasy is by far my favourite genre. However, the books chosen (at least so far) often have other elements to the storyline. Some may have sci-fi elements, or a lean more into romance than I would choose to pick up myself.

Just because those are the nature of books being chosen at the moment, that’s not to say that won’t change in future. That is also the beauty of a book club. They can evolve over time… especially depending on the people that make up the group!

 

Community/Bookish Discussion

That leads me on nicely to my final point in this discussion post. There are lots of readers out there, and if you can immerse yourself in a community of like-minded people, and you can’t go far wrong. Especially with the power of going online, you can reach out to far more people than you could ever hope to meet in person.

Everybody who reads a book does so from a unique perspective. Everybody will have their own perception of the events based on who they are, and their experiences. No person, therefore, reads a book in the exact same way. For that reason, it’s great to be able to reach out to those people and discuss their alternate views.

Group size and setting can vary significantly, so I am sure you can find a community that works for you.

 

If you’re an avid reader and/or part of a book club, I’d love to know more! This is a discussion post after all! Do you meet in person, or online? If you aren’t part of a book club yet, is it something you would be interested in?

 

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Discussion Post – Book Star Ratings

So, you’ve read a book! Congratulations! But, where do you even begin when deciding what star rating to give it?

These are questions a lot of people probably ask themselves when they are looking to leave it a rating on the likes of Amazon, Goodreads etc. The honest answer is, there isn’t a right or wrong way to do it. Ratings (and reviews) by nature are subjective and our individual experiences of a book are completely different. So don’t worry! You can’t do it wrong.

Different people have different ways of tackling this problem. In today’s post, I’m going to be discussing some of the different ways in which you might approach rating a book. Maybe you don’t like the way you rate a book now, you’re curious as to what other methods there are or are just not sure how it’s best to go about it. Hopefully today’s post can inspire you!

 

Emotively

Everyone interprets media differently. Hundreds of people can consume the same thing and end up with polar opposite opinions. That’s the good thing about being human. We all have a unique perspective based on a number of factors – our upbringing, religious or political views or even just personal preference.

One of the ways in which a book can be rated is purely based on how it made you feel. That’s not to say an book that made you cry should be rated as one star though! That’s not what you’re aiming for here. But I mean by emotively is how strongly a book makes you feel. Do you absolutely love it? Or, were you a little bit uninspired? Can you explain exactly why? For this method you don’t particularly have to be able to justify why it made you feel that way (although if you are writing a full review it does help to explain to other readers).

 

Methodically

I’ve seen readers rate books before based on a combination of factors. They may look at things such as the plot, character development and a number of other fixed topics. They’ll rate the book on each of these topics and then give the book the overall average of those scores.

This is a very fair way to rate a book and if you aren’t 100% sure how is best, this can be a way to help you along. There are set criteria and the structure may help you think about certain aspects of a book more specifically. Reviewing emotively may suits some, however anyone looking for a little bit of guidance as to what may be more important may feel more confident with bit of structure.

It’s also a more fair method of rating a book if you want to attribute each ‘topic’ of consideration in your rating in equal measure. As to whether that is suitable is entirely up to you – it’s your opinion that counts after all!

 

Combination of the two

Personally, I’m a combination of both of these methods. Whilst I don’t specifically have a set list of factors I consider when rating a book, I will take into account several things when deciding my rating for the book. I will think about the plot; whether it’s appropriate for the genre and how well it is written to give a couple of examples. I think about the characters and how well the storyline/narrative allowed them to develop etc. But I’m not rigid on this. I don’t have a set list of things I’ll consider and I don’t rate the book individually against each topic and average it. I do still allow my overall subjective feelings towards the book to govern the rating.

One reason I don’t rate my books methodically it’s because I don’t value individual factors equally. A book may have fantastic character development and a really exciting plot, if I can’t get on with the writing style then that’s a deal-breaker for me. Since that is more important to me, rating a book based on that and attributing it equally against other factors doesn’t sit well with me. My experience of the book in that instance is brought down considerably more because it’s more important to me.

The most important thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. How you decide to rate a book is entirely your decision. If you’re not sure which method is best, have a go at all of them! If any one of them is easier than the other than perhaps this is the way forward for you. You may have already decided how you do it – and that’s fine too!

The point of providing a rating is to express your personal opinion. Nobody can tell you that’s wrong. So long as you are being honest, that’s all there is to it!

How do you rate a book? Do you use any of these methods, or do you rate a book in another way? If you do I’ll be really interested to hear how you do it!

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Discussion Post: Under Represented Characters in Books

There is a particular type of character I feel is seriously under represented in books, considering that the vast majority of people will probably relate to this type of person in one way or another.

I think this is most prevalent in fantasy books; I feel like I notice this more because it’s the genre I read the most of. That’s not to say that these characters are not present in other genres, because that’s definitely not the case either. So you are probably thinking, what character type am I thinking of exactly? Well, the simple answer, is realistic ones!

Let me explain it from the opposite end of the spectrum. Fantasy novels are full of altruistic protagonists. They may come from any background and any kind of advantage or disadvantage, but their prime motivator is doing right by other people. Risking their skin to save others. Sound familiar? If you read fantasy I should definitely hope so. But how many people realistically put others before themselves unconditionally? I wouldn’t say very many.

Don’t get me wrong, we can all pick our moments to do the right thing. Whether it’s baking for the charity cake sale or helping someone when in need, everybody has the capacity to consider other people and act in the other person’s interest from time to time. But when it really matters, when it’s fight or flight, human nature is to be selfish. It is to look after yourself above others, that’s just survival instinct. So why is our basic human nature so under represented in novels? As I say, for the fantasy genre particularly, it is littered – chockablock full of altruistic protagonists, but realistically, that doesn’t represent us at all.

That’s not to say that they all have their perfect protagonists though. There are a few authors in the genre that are not afraid to build their narrative around more complex and realistic characters. To name a few off the top of my head, Jorg Ancrath of Mark Lawrence’s The Broken Empire series, or Ryhalt in Ed Macdonald’s The Raven’s Mark series are standout examples. Why do they stand out? Because I loved them. I loved their flaws and how they still made great characters despite them. Ryhalt uses alcohol as a coping mechanism and runs away from his problems. The ghosts of his past haunt him and he lives with constant guilt. Does that make him a bad person? No!

Whilst I’m not saying that there are far more alcoholics or cowards than altruists in the world, I think it’s fair to say that flawed characters are far more relatable to us as readers. We all make mistakes – we can all be selfish, and there are even times where it’s not a bad thing to be so. Characters with these deep personality flaws are not only more realistic, but I also find them far more interesting. A lot of thought has gone into them; their history and motivations derive from a personal background that we may not know at the time, but the author has invested time to create and use these to build into the character’s development. It makes them more rounded people.

Now perhaps having very altruistic characters can be argued as promoting model behaviour to readers. I can, in a way, agree with that. Yet by having characters with diverse personality traits, good and bad, we can learn from their behaviour. Their inclusion isn’t necessarily promoting the bad stuff. I’d say there is a much similar argument about the media and body image. Yes, being thinner and healthy is recommended, but having images of extremely skinny people around us everywhere isn’t always healthy for people’s body image – it can be harmful too. The same could be said of promoting model behaviour; yes it is good to teach it, but flooding the market with it too much could lead to negative effects if people feel they have to live up to that expectation, and can’t.

As with everything, I think a healthy balance is the best approach, and so I would like to see more characters with less than honest/perfect intentions. Sometimes it’s okay to be selfish. Putting yourself first isn’t a bad thing. Saying no to someone doesn’t make you a bad person. We are not all people-pleasing ‘yes-men’ who’ll stick our necks out on the line for the benefit of others, and that’s okay. It’s perfectly okay to not be perfect. 

I’m not sure if this is just something that I think about as I really enjoy reading about characters with less than desirable habits or traits. Is there something you have noticed to? Or do you have a different opinion to me? If so, let me know in the comments!

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Discussion Post – Do Blog Stats Matter?

Hello everyone! Today’s blog post is potentially a bit of a controversial topic, because I want to talk about blog stats, and how much they matter.

Obviously they matter to a certain extent. Here on Reviewsfeed I take part in blog tours, as well as share book reviews and other bookish content. Particularly for the review side of things, it’s beneficial for the authors of the books I feature to actually reach an audience… so in that sense it matters.

From what I have seen, bloggers tend to be polar opposites on their stance on stats. They either monitor excessively… or not at all. I confess I fall into the latter category; I hardly ever look at them to be perfectly honest with you. That’s not to say things go unnoticed, however. If I get a notification to say someone has liked my post, or followed my blog, then yes I get a little excited. But do I continuously monitor each blog post’s page views and compare them to each other? Am I filled with self doubt if post doesn’t get as much ‘love’ as I think it should?

Absolutely not!

That’s fundamentally not what I blog for. When I started my blog, it was to have a place to share my thoughts on the books I read. I had in my head the idea that if I could inspire even just one person to pick up a book, then I would be happy. In the grand scheme of things, that is a very low target, but that’s all I wanted to do. I would like to hope that I achieved it by now, but at the same time it’s not the end of the world if I haven’t either. I’ve had fun along the way – that’s what counts!

When you first start out, you definitely have to make a lot more effort into your blog’s growth. Your blog doesn’t come up in searches so easily, so you have to go out there and get the attention for yourself. Of course I did this in the beginning. But I don’t now, and granted, I haven’t really have much in the way of ‘growth’ lately. I don’t necessarily gain any followers, but I do get page views with no effort at all.

When you tell someone how many followers you have, your first reaction would be “Wow!”… or “Well done!”. But what if I told you it stands for very little? I have hovered at just over 1000 followers for quite some time. Sounds like a reasonable following, right? What if I told you that my average page views per day in 2021 was just 11-12? That is nowhere near as impressive, is it. But that is the reality. Just because somebody ‘follows’ my blog, it doesn’t necessarily mean they read or interact with it at all. So that number becomes hollow; it doesn’t mean anything. If anything, it is the page views that are most likely to matter.

But even a page view count isn’t a true reflection. What if someone clicked on your blog by accident? They immediately click the back button take them back to wherever they were before. You have a page view, but the person didn’t actually read what you’ve shared! Equally, what if someone clicked on your post and just skim-read it? Have they actually taken any of your content in? Even if we assume a best case scenario; that everyone who has read your blog has done so on purpose and taken as much as they can out of your content – then great… but what now? There is a small sense of achievement to gain from that, but what impact does that have on your life ultimately? Do you continue to chase for the extra view, that extra push? Is it worth making your entire identity about who you are online?

For me, the answer is most definitely, no. 

Personally, I just don’t get the hype and obsession with counting stats. If I’m entirely honest with myself, comparing myself to some of the other bloggers out there by following or number of views is unrealistic. I don’t read the types of books that target the current majority of the book blogging demographic (YA, I’m looking at you) so my content doesn’t appeal either. And you know what? That’s okay. I’m not going to change my reading tastes to try and appeal to the mass market.

What I say next might not sit well with some. I am a twenty-something-year-old woman and I despair at how many people in my generation (and the younger ones) rely on social media and the Internet in general for validation and self-worth. It’s sad that people think they are defined by their online presence. You’re not. The Internet is a fickle place, and whether you find a place within it or not, it will move on without you. What matters is whether you let that bother you or not.

It may sound hypocritical of me to be talking to you about this, given that my entire hobby is based around posting content on the Internet. I’ve been doing so for the last four years. However, I hope I’ve made it very clear that my ‘place’ on the web, and how much traffic I get, matters very little to me. I love my blog, and I love sharing my thoughts on it. As to how many people see it or take anything from it, anything goes. I set up my blog for me and that has been my objective from day one.

So, I’ve made my opinion very clear. Do you agree with me or do you disagree? I’d like to hear your views on the subject, so let me know in the comments!

 

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Discussion Post: Reading Diversity is a Benefit

I wanted to share today’s discussion post as a way of encouraging people to pick up books of different genres. All in all, I think it’s a benefit and you’ll see in today’s post why I think my opinion is justified in that based on my experience. This is of course a discussion post so if you don’t agree, or have a different experience, I would love to hear from you!

 

My Experience

I started reading at a young age and as I developed into my teenage years, I fell into a common trap. I always chose to re-read the same types of books. Fantasy was (and still is) by far my favourite genre and I will pick it up at any opportunity I could. The books I borrowed from the school library were the same. Even when I had the opportunity of every book in that room, with no risk and no gamble financially as to whether I liked it or not, I still reverted to reading the same things. At first this doesn’t sound like a bad thing, however it does have its disadvantages.

The fantasy genre is full of the same kinds of tropes. Orphaned children, an unexpected journey, fate, destiny and coming-of-age stories litter the fantasy market. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy some combinations of these tropes. But that’s not to say they’re always a good thing. In fact, when I would only exclusively read fantasy I got bored of how repetitive the books were. Sure, the characters weren’t quite the same, the journeys were slightly different and each character had their own development arc… But the story is essentially the same. I got to the point where I found myself stuck in a rut and ultimately my reading dropped off just because I felt I was lacking uniqueness in my reading preferences.

Fast forward to when I started my blog. Yes, I resumed my bad habit by reading a large number of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. But from there I diversified, and quite quickly. If there is one thing that being part of the blogging community is good for, is that there are book recommendations literally everywhere! I had already come to realise at this point that reading the same thing over and over again was the fatal flaw the first time, and this gave me the push to try new things.

Now I am a completely different reader. Fantasy is still my favourite genre and I still read a lot of it, however I regularly intersperse it with other books from multiple genres. I can now happily say that the only genre I don’t read is romance… but that’s a story for another day. The variety of books I now read has done a lot for me in terms of motivation to continue reading, but also to branch out further and try new things. There isn’t the same apprehension about trying new authors or genres… or combinations of! I only started reading horror books after starting my blog. If I went into each little detail as to how I’ve diversified we could be here all day, but you see where I’m going with this.

 

My Thoughts…

Do I think I am a better reader for having broader reading tastes? Absolutely, yes! By having a wider choice of books I have the opportunity to learn far more than I ever did before. That aside, the different genres and writers all expose me to different writing styles. There are so many fantastic authors out there that even with having an open mind and picking up nearly everything, I could never hope to get through them all in my lifetime.

Confining yourself to a niche genre does not do you any favours, in my experience. In the short term it doesn’t seem much of a problem, and indeed, there can be plenty of vastly different books in the same genre so you don’t get bored for a very long time.

But in my experience, you do hit that point eventually. I did, and I lost my reading motivation years ago because of it. I couldn’t find anything new despite my best efforts and that lead to a stagnation. For anyone who has been in a reading slump, you know how difficult it is to get yourself out of it. It took me years to get out of that one. Whilst I would be lying if I said I didn’t have the odd slump even now, they are few and far between and can often be resolved by picking up another genre.

Do you read from different genres? Do you find they help you when you are in a Reading slump from another? If you don’t agree with what I’ve said, or even if you do, I would love to hear from you! This is a discussion post after all, and it would be interesting to see what the community at large thinks!

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Top Ten Tuesday – Non-Bookish Hobbies

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Top Ten Tuesday post!

Today’s topic is actually a little premature as it’s earmarked for Tuesday 3rd November. Unfortunately, I have a blog tour that day but I really wanted to share the post anyway. It’s especially relevant at the moment as I am finding myself turning more to non-bookish hobbies.  I also think this post is a fun way for you to get to know a little more about me!

So, here are my top ten non-bookish hobbies, and for fun, I’m posting them in reverse order: –

 

Logic Puzzles

From classic puzzle books, Sudoku, codebreakers and hanjie are puzzles I really enjoy trying to decode. Classic games like Minesweeper are fun too. I think it’s fair to say that I don’t have a particular bias towards numbers, words or pictures when it comes to employing logic to solve a puzzle – I just enjoy the challenge of using the clues I’m given to complete a puzzle.

I haven’t done a logic grid puzzle in a long time, but those are good too! Half the battle with those is reading the word clues very carefully to make sure you got all the information out of them.

 

Watch documentaries

I don’t watch much TV, but lately, I’ve taken to watching documentaries. I’ve watched nearly3 series’ of Blowing Up History over the past couple of months, as well as David Attenborough’s The Galapagos Islands docu-series. I’m sure I watched these years ago, but I enjoyed it again! I also enjoy TV mystery/thrillers and dramas, but I haven’t watched so many of those lately.

 

Watching YouTube

From instructional videos to watching people play games like Minecraft, I enjoy watching a video or two on YouTube… especially when I’m eating.

 

Play Minecraft

Playing Minecraft is something I also enjoy, although I haven’t logged on for a little while now. The last time I went to play I discovered my wireless mouse was broken. That was the end of August. I tend to play Minecraft for a bit and then stop, but then get back into it again. I haven’t played all that much since the Nether update went live, so maybe that’s my excuse to get back into it again! The next update has just been announced and sounds great, so I’ll definitely be getting back into it again when that’s released!

 

Listening to music

I almost forgot to add this to my list even though it’s something I do every day. That’s precisely the reason I overlooked it – it’s an ingrained habit. I love music across a variety of genres. From some of the more modern music to singer/songwriter, musical tracks and even soundtracks (I’m sure you’ll be REALLY surprised to know I have all the Game of Thrones soundtracks downloaded… NOT!) I really enjoy a variety of music. It depends on my mood as to what I listen to.

 

Writing

It’s hard to think of writing and blogging as separate to reading given that the two have gone so hand-in-hand for such a long time. But, they are technically different hobbies. I like taking the time to share my thoughts on something, whether it’s a book, an idea – you name it… I’ll have an opinion on it! Taking the time to write several times a week over the course of a few years stacks up and consequently, I find it a lot easier to write now than I did when I started blogging in 2017.

 

Knitting

Knitting is a new hobby I’ve taken up in the last month or two and I’m enjoying the challenge of it. I learned the very basics of knitting as a child, so I’m not completely new to it. I think my knowledge of it only went so far as learning the garter stitch and figuring out (the hard way) how not to add or drop stitches. That first ‘scarf’ I made, was awful. I can still picture that first section I did in brown, full of holes and scruffy as anything. In hindsight, the colour choice was a premonition for how it was going to turn out…

I still make plenty of mistakes now, but I’m also taking on more stitches and more complicated patterns… so that’s my excuse.

 

Crochet

I’ve been crocheting longer than knitting; however, I love the two just as much!! Ironically, crochet is the more complicated of the two crafts (in my opinion) as there are more stitch types and combinations etc but I found that easier to learn than knitting.

A little weird fact for you – I learned how to do these crafts at different times and in different ways, so I knit right-handed but crochet left-handed.

 

Learn new things

I guess you have probably figured out from some of the entries here that a lot of my ‘motivation’ behind them is learning new things. More than anything, I love to learn – whether it is picking up a new skill or just finding out something I didn’t know yesterday. I enjoyed going to school (for the most part) and so I try to make everyday a school day!

 

Spend time with friends/family

Above all these things, my friends and family mean the most to me and so spending time with them is the thing I look forward to most. I am very lucky to be close to my family and we see each other a lot! I also have a close-knit circle of friends that are great fun to spend time with. You see a lot of jokes about readers and avoiding socialising in favour of staying home and reading. I’m really not like that at all. I do enjoy socialising and I’m grateful for the wonderful people I have in my life. I’d give up every hobby in this list for them if I had to, so of course they take the top spot on this list!

 

What are your hobbies? Let’s chat and get to know each other!

 

 

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Book Subscription Boxes – Yay or Nay?

Book Subscription Boxes have really taken off in recent years. If you are stuck for finding a new read, need a push to pick up something different or are just curious, book subscription boxes are a good way to expand your reading horizons.

Just to give an idea of how many subscription services there are, and the themes/genres they cater to, here is a list published by the Independent that may be of interest. I couldn’t possibly list them all here, but to summarise – if there is a niche, it’s probably catered for.

I’ve toyed with the idea of one before; I’ve even done a decent amount of research to find one that’s a good fit for me. I always find myself talking myself out of it, however, and for the same reasons. I’m not saying that books subscription boxes aren’t great – others really enjoy them. If you do, I’d love to hear why! But here are my reasons and reservations over signing up to one personally: –

 

Books

I don’t like the idea of not having a choice over the books I would get. There is nothing worse for me than not liking a book, especially when I’ve paid for it. I say that at the risk of sounding tight-fisted, but that’s not the case at all. I spend more than enough on books. In fact, I buy a lot of the books I read and feature on my blog in one format or another. But if I spend my hard-earned money on a book and then I don’t enjoy it, or can’t read it, I feel cheated. Even I get it wrong. There are books I have ‘vetted’ and bought expecting to love them but didn’t. It’s disappointing, but it happens. I did the best thing I could with them and donated them to charity.

With a book subscription box, I’m one further step removed from the book or books I’ll receive. I’m pretty open-minded about what I’ll pick up, but that doesn’t mean I’ll read and love everything I get. I’m of the opinion that with a subscription box, I’m at more risk of getting something I wouldn’t want than if I just went to my local bookstore and chose something for myself. For the same reason, I don’t get on with book clubs. Ultimately, I don’t want to invest (financially or my time) into something I don’t want to read. There’s plenty more out there I will want to read. It’s as simple as that.

Yes, subscription boxes are more likely to encourage you to broaden your horizons. I don’t dispute that. If you love that then a subscription might work for you. Personally, if I want to try something new or that I’m unsure of, I’m more likely to try and borrow it from my library instead. That way if I don’t like it, I haven’t lost anything.

 

Book Related Merchandise

I have watched a good few ‘unboxing’ videos on YouTube and some of the subscription boxes are really cute with their themed book and extra goodies. From bookmarks to badges and beverage samples, they have an array of complementary items perfect for book lovers.

My personal bugbear is that after a year of subscriptions I’d be fast on my way to clogging up the house with, for want of a word, crap. Yes, themed bookmarks and little candles are cute, but can I possibly use them all? No. I don’t even have particularly like-minded friends I could pass them onto. Some come with some beautiful stationery, which I admit I would like. Let’s be honest though – I’m a stationery fiend and I don’t need any help hoarding more!

 

Pricing

Can I talk about the elephant in the room and say that some subscription box services are really expensive?! Not all of them are – I feel the need to jump in with that in case there are those interested that haven’t really done the research into it to know the market. But still, how some of them justify the price, I’m not sure.

The prices of the subscription range featured in the Independent’s article range from 9.99 to 34.99 per month. I find the top end of that to be quite pricey. I have found other boxes advertised for as much as £49 online. Fair enough, quite often they feature new or exclusive stuff. I suppose what it boils down to is whether you are willing to pay for that. That’s an entirely personal choice, but for me, it’s a no. I’d rather spend my money on another book instead.

 

Have you received a book subscription box before? What do you think of them? I’d love to hear your experiences or thoughts about them!

 

 

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Netgalley: Yay or Nay?

I signed up to Netgalley not long after I started my blog, however, I am still unsure really as to how I feel about it two years on.

Back in May 2018 I published a post called Five Reasons I don’t Rate Netgalley. Every point in that post still stands. I am only a very occasional user of the service. It comes in handy for some blog tours I take part in, but it’s rare that I go on and have a browse to find something of my own accord.

A lot of bloggers love the site and frequently brag about downloading too many books; I just don’t understand it. I can’t say I have ever found many books I want to download on there at any one time. At best, I’ll make the odd request here and there. I have one currently for The Mothers by Sarah Naughton, but that’s all.

My profile is too small to successfully request the newest and most popular books, but equally, I would feel that in order to get to a point where I would be accepted, I would have to read a lot of books I’m not that interested in to get there. I’m not doing it. I am not going to force myself to read books that don’t appeal to me.

If I’m honest, I think it is over-rated. I keep my account because it does come in handy. Sometimes it makes for a change to see what else is out there, or to try a debut author. I’ll never be one of these bloggers that live off Netgalley and I am okay with that. There are so many amazing books elsewhere that I don’t feel I am missing out.

Do you use Netgalley? What are your thoughts on the site?

 

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