Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: blogger’s bookshelf

  • Top 3 | Tips To Get You Reading More Books

    One of the questions I get most often from people is, as a book blogger, how do you find time to read? Short answer? I don’t – you just need to take a look at my slow trawling pace on my Goodreads challenge and my exhaustive TBR pile to see that. Long answer? There’s plenty of tips and trickles of advice I’ve dealt out, but here are my top three (in celebration of three years of Blogger’s Bookshelf!)

    1. The 100 page rule

    Sometimes you start a book and can’t stop, sometimes it takes a while to get going, and the rest of the time you end up taking forever stubbornly finishing a book just because you’ve started. I’m totally guilty of the last point and though it is sometimes the case that some books will take more than 100 pages to gain momentum you shouldn’t have to force yourself to finish a book you don’t enjoy.
    So if you don’t find yourself gripped by a novel by page 100, put it down and start a different book. I’ve only recently starting doing this in myself and it’s taking a while to break out of old habits, but it has meant I’ve been finishing books I really enjoy instead of trudging through something like ‘On The Road’.

    2. Carry a book with you at all times

    Sure this one can get a bit inconvenient, especially when hardbacks can be so heavy, but you never know when you you need to fill a spare 5 minutes in the queue for the bank or waiting for a delayed train. Obviously the solution to heavy books is to use an e-reader, but I quite like the good ol’ fashioned paperback option – and it doesn’t run out of battery.

    3. Ignore book snobs

    Hypocritical considering I’m a book blogger? But I genuinely believe that you shouldn’t read something just because everyone else is or because it’s won a Pulitzer Prize. Like any art form literature is so subjective, so just because everyone is harping on about the latest dystopian doesn’t mean you have to too. Genres like YA and *rolls eyes* chick-lit are often looked down upon by ‘proper literary buffs’ but if you enjoy them then read them!

    Let me know what your top tips for reading more are!

    PSA: ALSO! Don’t forget to enter Blogger’s Bookshelf’s Third Birthday giveaway (there’s a YALC goody bag and a proof copy of The Baby by Lisa Drakeford among other bits and pieces!)

    R.xoxo

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  • Blog Of The Month | Blogger’s Bookshelf

    9 Bloggers Bookshelf
    Ok, ok. Kinda sorta biased BOTM this month and a bit of a different format for the occasion! A year ago this past Saturday, I posted my weekly round up post here, mentioning my interest in maybe starting up a book blog (Notice the little comment from an kind of awesome person called Erin ;P).
    One year later, and Erin and I have just help celebrate the blog’s first birthday! It’s been an insane year of writing, organisation and a millions emails (check out some of our blog stats in this Infographic I made up!) but it’s been totally worth it. 
    I only need to look at our review A-Z and feel all the things, including pride, at how dedicated and talented our regular reviewers are, and how much our readers have loved contributing and commenting too. As someone who’s always played along the peripheries of fandoms and communities, it’s kinda strange to be so heavily involved in the Internet book bloggers circle now – so much so that it’s creeped into so many posts here on Wishing For Chanel too!
    So I raise my glass to Blogger’s Bookshelf! And dedicate huge and much needed thank you to the ever amazing Erin for being such a fantastic co-captain (believe me this blog would be nothing with her drive to make it work!), the fabulous blogging team, and of course the readers :) 
    Here’s to another year ;)
    ps. We have a pretty epic giveaway a-happening on the blog to celebrate! You can win a copy of Earth Star by Janet Edwards and Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve. And to top it off, Fearsome Dreamer is SIGNED By Laure herself (she lovely enough to sign two things for me at LeakyCon ;D). SO be sure to enter! Just click here to check out the post and good luck!

  • July | In Books

    Jul in books
    Briar Rose | Jane Yolen
    Reviewed on Blogger’s Bookshelf already, Briar Rose was an on the spot find in a charity shop a while ago. As I said in my review I was expecting this to be an different retelling of a fantasy fairytale, but what I found was a really thought provoking and, at times, disturbing story about the Second World War. Make sure you check out my review for full content, but all in all a definite recommended read if you want something a little gritty to get your teeth into.

    The Death Cure | James Dashner

    The final book in The Maze Runner series, it took me a while to get onto this! If you’re following the series *spoiler alert!* Thomas and the other Gladers are now out of the Trials and with a chance to get their former memories and help WICKED find the cure for the Flare. But unlike some of the other Gladers, Thomas is not so fond of WICKED, he can remember more that they even realise and he’s not so ready to trust them. 
    Once a series that started off strong, with The Maze Runner, I really ended up disliking The Scorch Trials. So you can imagine my apprehension at getting this one over and done with. But I did find the first part of the book much less confusing than Scorch Trials, the purpose of the Maze, the Trials and why WICKED are doing this are fully exposed, questions are finally answered and we, as readers, can finally concentrate on Thomas’ story. Over complicating the plot and introducing too many new elements/secrets was my main bug bear of Scorch Trials, but Dashner goes back to a simple survival of the fittest story archetype with The Death Cure and I’m definitely grateful for that. There is one major plot twist towards the end that I think he put in for the sake of making us readers shout ‘NO!’, but the final epilogue will make you forgive him a little…I think…
    So in summary, the series is definitely worth following – if only so you can keep up with the hype of the new film adaptation that’s due to come out next year. 

    The Last Little Blue Envelope | Maureen Johnson
    The second novel in The Little Blue Envelope’s series, Ginny is back from Europe, back home and college applications and normality after the craziest trip of her life. Having lost the last blue envelope on in Greece, Ginny’s resigned herself to not knowing how her Aunt’s story ended. Months later she’s contacted by a boy in London who’s found her bag and the final letter. Naturally Ginny heads back over the pond, staying with her newly found Uncle, expecting to say a final farewell to the letters. 
    But hey there’d be no story if the book ended there. Getting the last envelope is just the start of another adventure. 
    I have to say I enjoyed this part of Ginny’s story much more than her first. Before a kind of whiny American girl who never really experienced life and ambled around a little, Ginny’s now older and wiser after her first trip to Europe. It’s almost as if the thought about finally finishing her Aunt’s story has kicked her into high gear, she’s a fighter and willing to stand up for herself a bit more. That doesn’t mean the book is completely devoid of teenager feelings, with romance rearing it’s angst-y head. All in all though it’s better read than it’s predecessor and the ending will leave you with that warm fuzzy feeling inside.  

    Nocturnes | Kazuo Ishiguro

    A story cycle exploring themes of music, the passing of time and love, this is one of my first forays into the world of short stories. Ishiguro, author of such novels as Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day, regales five short stories where we meet a whole range of characters. The stories take you around the world, from a mysterious high rise hotel with some odd clientèle to the dreamy streets of Italy and it’s piazza musicians to an ordinary London flats with a well-meaning friend stuck in the middle of a sparing couple.  
    I’m used to song cycles with musical theatre but story cycles are something very new to me, and I struggled getting into the stories at first. However, as I went through each story and saw the themes develop I actually found myself enjoying the last few stories. I think this deserves a re-read, much like I had to with Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro’s style is rather dreamy and the stories do linger if you give them a chance.

    R.xoxo
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