Tag: The Belles

BOOK TAG: Books I WANT to read, but don’t want to READ

Book Tags

Jami over at Jamishelves created and posted this tag a couple weeks ago. I’m not usually a book tag kind of blogger, but this one seemed really fun! So even though I wasn’t tagged, I’m doing it anyway!

Rules:

  • Link back to the original tag (@Jamishelves)
  • Complete the questions with books you want to have read but don’t want to read
  • Tag some people at the end to do the tag next

1: A book that you feel you need to read because everyone talks about it

  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

This is a book that has just never appealed to me for whatever reason. I keep hearing great things about it and about the sequel, but I’m just not into the premise!

The Belles

2: A book that’s really long

  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

This baby is over 1,000 pages. I repeat, OVER 1,000 PAGES. That’s literally like three normal sized books combined.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

3: A book you’ve owned / had on your TBR for too long

  • The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E Pearson

I asked for this book for Christmas the year it came out (which I guess wasn’t that long ago, but it feels really long ago). I’d read the first two and couldn’t remember much. So I told myself I would wait to read this one until I’d reread the first two and now…it’s just been sitting on my shelf.

The Beauty of Darkness

4: A book that is ‘required’ reading
(eg, school text, really popular classic – something you feel obligated to read!)

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The old answer for this was Wuthering Heights, but I finally read that last year (the year before?). Spoiler: not worth it, imo. But this one I’m a little more excited for because I really liked My Plain Jane.

Jane Eyre

5: A book that intimidates you

  • The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (reread)

This is a bit of a cheat, but I have been meaning to reread the Harry Potter books forever. I read them as they were coming out and I’ve attempted rereads since (most notably when I got my wisdom teeth out) but I can never seem to get past the fourth book! It’s just such a commitment and the books just get longer.

harry potter series

6: A book that you think might be slow

  • The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Apparently, I really liked the first two books, but at this point I can’t remember why? I remember the books are slow reads (for me at least) even though they contain some action. I’m just worried this book will be slow and I don’t have the motivation to pick it up.

The Winter of the Witch

7: A book you need to be in the right mood for

  • Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

While I liked the first book (The Diviners), it was long and had a lot of loose ends. It was obviously setting things up for the rest of the series, so I feel like I’m really going to need to be in the right mood to finish.

Lair of Dreams

8: A book you’re unsure if you will like

  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Another book that I’ve only heard good things about, but I have a thing about zombies. I. DO. NOT. LIKE. ZOMBIES. Especially on TV/in movies, but also in books. But like the rest of the premise sounds really good, and like I said, everyone’s been RAVING about it (it has a freaking 4.17 rating on Goodreads).

Dread Nation

I tag:
Deanna @A Novel Glimpse
Book Beach Bunny
Margaret @ Weird Zeal
Ashley @ Socially Awkward Bookworm
Kristin @ Kristin Kraves Books
Kaeley @ Spoilers May Apply

Here’s the list of prompts without my answers for your copying and pasting pleasure:

1: A book that you feel you need to read because everyone talks about it
2: A book that’s really long
3: A book you’ve owned / had on your TBR for too long
4: A book that is ‘required’ reading
(eg, school text, really popular classic – something you feel obligated to read!)
5: A book that intimidates you
6: A book that you think might be slow
7: A book you need to be in the right mood for
8: A book you’re unsure if you will like

Provo Library’s Best Books of 2018 | YA Non-Fiction, Fiction, & Graphic Novels

Every year my local library puts on a “Best Books of…” event and I love it! A lot of the books I’ve already heard of, but I always come away with new books on my TBR! Even though I do work here, I wasn’t part of putting on the event or choosing the books–I was able to just attend as a patron, so that was super fun as well. I made my book club come with me too, so hopefully some of these books will make it into our discussions! Here’s a link for anyone who missed my post on the Adult non-fiction and fiction list.

Provo Library Best Books YA

Bolded books are ones that are on my TBR. Italics are ones I’ve read.

Non-Fiction
Fiction
Comics & Graphic Novels
Have you read any of these? What young adult books would you add to the list?

Pin this!

Provo Library Best Books YA

14 Best Book Deals for 1/26/19 – TWO FREE BOOKS, Notorious RBG, The Belles, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, and more

There are some great deals this week!

Free

Queen of Someday by Sherry D. Ficklin

Slave, Warrior, Queen by Morgan Rice

How can you turn down free books? Both of these are ones I’ve downloaded and I’m excited to get to them!

Less than $1

Truth or Dare by Madeleine Labitan – This is actually a novella and it sounds like a great love to hate story!

A Tale of Beauty and Beast by Melanie Cellier – I absolutely adore retellings (especially Beauty and the Beast). This one looks great!

Less than $2

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige – Again, with the retellings! I seriously can’t get enough.

Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell – I loved this book so much! I don’t read many books written in verse, but as part of an interracial couple, this was a must-read for me. It tells this true story in such a delicate and beautiful way. I was literally moved to tears multiple times. (my review)

A Year with C.S. Lewis edited by Patricia S. Klein – This seems like it would be a great way to start every day–with a little bit of C.S. Lewis.

Winterfolk by Janel Kolby – I just heard about this book and it sounds really interesting! I haven’t read a book with contemporary homeless representation before and I grew up near Seattle so it especially hits close to home for me.

Less than $3

A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt – This is the first book in the Bookish Boyfriends series and it sounds so cute! Who hasn’t fantasized about their bookish crush coming to life?

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee – I have heard so many good things about this book! And I love a strong Asian American protag. Represent!

Less than $4

Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon – With the RBG movie coming out, this could be a good book to familiarize yourself with her story.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton – This book was hyped SO MUCH last year. If you haven’t read it yet, then where have you been?

About $5

The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner – This sounds like a great book with serious fairy tale vibes and (hopefully) a strong sister relationship.

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer – I really loved this book which features two characters falling in love via letters (swoon). Highly recommend! (my review)

 

Hype, hype baby | Under pressure to read new and hyped books

This is a blog post idea that has been bouncing around my head for a little bit, but yesterday it kind of came to a boiling point. I kept seeing posts about one book in particular (it was the book’s release day). Bloggers, authors, EVERYONE was raving about this book and talking about how excited they were to finally receive and read it. This is the book in question:

The Belles

So I’m just like, yes pretty cover, I understand. But then I went to read the synopsis on Goodreads and it left me feeling just…confused.

confused gif supernatural jensen ackles

It legitimately doesn’t sound interesting to me AT ALL. There is no part of that synopsis that appeals to me and I don’t even really understand what the book is supposed to be about. But here’s the thing: I marked it as “Want to Read” anyway.

Why did I do that? Even now I’m not totally sure. I’m usually pretty good at resisting peer pressure and I’m not really afraid to share my unpopular opinions, but hearing how excited everyone else was about this particular book, I thought that I must be missing something. So I guess FOMO is why I did it?

FOMO gif The Office Steve Carell Michael Scott

Something that I really enjoyed from my hiatus was completely unplugging from the book scene. I didn’t check my blog, I didn’t check other blogs, I didn’t even really go on Goodreads except to update my reading progress. This made it so I wasn’t really aware of what new books were coming out, what other people were hyping, etc. I also didn’t request ARCs on NetGalley during this time. I felt like I had this new freedom to read books that had been sitting on my shelf for a while (physical and digital). I also had time to do some rereads that I’d been meaning to get to.

I apologize for the rambliness of this post, but in the end it just got me thinking about how much pressure we put on ourselves as bloggers to read the newest thing, the most hyped thing. We want to stay relevant so that means keeping up with everything that’s happening RIGHT NOW. We have to read the latest books and hop on the newest trends immediately or else we’ll get left behind. Except…I don’t think it’s really like that. I like reading reviews about newer books, but I also like reading reviews about older ones–maybe ones that I’ve read a few years back or ones that I’ve been meaning to read for a while.

What I’ve learned through all of this: It’s okay to not be the very first one to read and review something. Accepting this idea has helped me to relax as a blogger and as a reader. Changes I have noticed:

  • I’m not requesting as many ARCs on NetGalley
  • I feel less pressure to try to get publishers to send me physical ARCs
  • Because I don’t have as many ARCs to review, my reading schedule is more open which allows me to mood read more or read the books that have been piling up on my shelves or reread old favorites
  • I don’t feel the urge to buy as many books since what I want to read is usually available at the library–no holds (and I’m also actually reading books that I already own)
  • I’m reading books that I WANT to read, not just books that I feel like I SHOULD read

So there you have it. I’ve officially removed The Belles from my “Want to Read” shelf on Goodreads. I’m still open to reading it in the future, but I’m not going to let myself be pressured into reading it just by its initial hype.

Let me know how you feel about book hype in the comments! Is it helpful, damaging, or neutral? Do you have any similar experiences to mine? How did it turn out?