Favourite book blogs

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There are literally TONS of book blogs out there, so it is highly possible to get lost in trying to find a good one that suits your taste. I myself went through a lot of searching and it took me a lot of time to find THE ONE (or rather – the oneS) that I really liked – either the writing style of the author or the books that he/she reads.

Here are some of my favourites. (NOTE: I am not advertising anything/anybody, I don’t earn money by writing about those blogs.)

This blog has everything: news about fantasy literature, reviews, interviews with authors, cover reveals of new books, contests, giveaways,… I just love this blog. I think it was my first blog written in English that I started reading.

Again, one of my favourite blogs – there are reviews, interviews, posts about upcoming interesting books and much more. Recently, this blogger shifted his reading focus from reading mainly fantasy to also reading other genres, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.

This is not fantasy book blog, but I like the author’s writing style and overall how she structures her blog. There are reviews, tips, upcoming books, interviews and more.

 

Goodreads Reading Challenge

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My reading is really stagnating this year. The main problem is my job – I often get home so tired, both mentally and physically, that I can’t do almost anything other than to fall into my bed. With my disability plus awful colleagues, you can imagine how difficult this is.

So far I’ve read 17 books out of my planned 25 and I think it’s going to stay that way until the end of December. It’s kind of discouraging because I love reading so much, but there’s just nothing I can do. I don’t want reading to become a race.

I feel a bit of pressure especially since, like, three years ago, mainly because of all the book bloggers and book Youtubers. I feel that there’s just too many books and I feel like it’s not in my powers to read them all in my entire life, and what if miss some really great book? But I said to myself: stop and just enjoy the books, YOU choose to read, don’t look at other readers, this is about YOU!

So, instead of feeling defeated, I choose to be positive. This year I’ve read 17 good books! Some of them were really amazing and some of them not, but it’s part of the reading experience – not always you can read something amazing and those books you read, shape what kind of reader you are.

Stay positive, guys!

(PS: I can’t wait to read the third book in The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson!)

Projects, blog and books!

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Finally I can breathe a little easier! I have a big project behind me at work so I can finally focus on this blog more. What I read in September?

Well, I finished the second book in the Mime Order series I think at the beginning of September, then I read the third one. That was when I decided to read only finished series, because I find it bothersome to read something unfinished and then having to wait for the sequel and meanwhile forgetting what the previous book was about.

Therefore, I picked up a book by Leigh Bardugo – Shadow and Bone, from the Shadow and Bone series, which is finished. I finished the first book and even though the book didn’t immediately click with me, I went on to the second book immediately after finishing the first and I must say it’s way better than the first one. I’m still at the beginning but I must say it has quite an interesting twist just at the beginning, which I think I haven’t seen in any other book yet. Plus, it has magical pirates in it!!!

Also I read (listened to an audiobook) Legend by Marie Lu. It really got me since the beginning and although I had to go back several times (listening in bed has its disadvantages), I followed the story well, even though English is not my native tongue. It has some clichés, but it’s very well written and of course I’m going to read the sequel!

That it, people! Hope you enjoyed this post.

Keep reading!

 

Reading Book Series

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Credit: Pexels.com

Nowadays, I’m really fed up with book series. Most of the series I’m reading are still going on and new sequels are planned by the authors and more interesting book series are emerging.

What I don’t like about series is – imagine a situation: you read a book and you discover that the author is planning to write five sequels. When is the next book coming? In a year? Two years? Chances are you will forget what happened in the previous book(s), until the sequel is published, so you have to re-read the previous book(s), to refresh your memory.

I feel this is kind of taking you away from reading completely new books. It feels like wasting time. I mean, if you really love the series and you’re reading it again, there’s nothing wrong with it, but still it feels like you could be reading something fresh and new and instead you’re reading a book you’ve already read, just to refresh your memory because of the details you might have forgotten and which could be important in the coming sequel.

Therefore from now on I decided to read only books or series that are finished or are going to be finished soon.

From pens and pencils to PCs and procrastinating!

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I love writing with pretty pens or pencils. Sadly, all I seem to do lately is type on a computer. I wish I could go back to the days when I was only using pen and paper. It has a special magic to it.

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Credit: Pexels.com

I have tons of paper notebooks and pencils and pens and crayons etc. but I hardly use them nowadays, only when I’m tutoring (for those who don’t know, I am a private tutor of English as a foreign language). I don’t like using computer when explaining things to a student.

But let’s get to the beginning.

When I was a child, I quite enjoyed writing notes and little stories. Whenever I saw a nice pen or pencil in a shop, I begged my parents to buy it for me. That’s how I ended with a small suitcase like this full of pens, pencils and paper notebooks. Also, I had similar set of pens like this.

I got my first OWN computer when I was 18 years old. Until then, I shared a PC with my brother, who played games on it constantly, so instead I read books. I feel like I didn’t miss out on anything. On the contrary, I think kids nowadays are missing out on things because they sit in front of a PC screen and play games.

Getting my own computer was a big asset for me, but at the same time it got me away from reading, writing and spending time actively. I’m trying to get away from all the social media and other time killers – I’m spending too much time on these sites.

Pomodoro timer is helping!