Why Reading Is Not Always A Good Thing

I cannot believe that I just wrote that in the header, but it is something that I have been reflecting on a lot lately, and it is true. Sometimes there is a such thing as too much reading, and reading too much is not always a good thing. I challenged myself to experience a different kind of reading this year, and currently I am only on my second book for the year, and I am okay with that. There are several reasons for this. The first being that I am now only reading for me. This means that I won't navigate towards slimmer novels just in a attempt to read more, therefore having more content to write book reviews for. No, the books that I have been navigating towards are the massive fantasy novels that I forsake last year because they were 'too time committing'. Now I ask, is it better to read four young adult novels that you will more then likely walk away from disappointed, or should you read the books that you love, the ones that stay with you? I made my choice. I have not regretted that decision, and I am thoroughly enjoying books again. This year there have been several hyped up young adult releases ("Truthwitch" by Susan Dennard, and "Passenger" by Alexandra Braken), and you know what? I have absolutely no interest in reading these, and I won't. I have ventured away from the young adult genre, and I don't foresee myself returning to it. I do have a trusted few young adult authors that I will continue to read, but the genre in general is just too stale and too immature for my tastes. With that being said, I have also spent less time reading this year. I have put aside a hour or two each night for reading, and I will sometimes read more during the weekend, but I am not just focusing on reading anymore. Reading used to be my entire outlook on life. I wanted to rush home after work to read, I didn't want to do things on the weekends because it would cut into my reading, I didn't want to pursue my other interests because once again, it would cut into my reading time. And I don't even think that it was about the reading itself, but rather feeling like it was my job to read. I had to read as many books as possible, and I had to read 'all' of the books. It was unhealthy, and quite frankly it was ruining the experience for me. Now I read when I feel like reading. If I don't feel like reading, I don't. My new years resolutions didn't just involve books, it also involved goals for myself. So I have also been focusing more on exercising every night after work, which also means less time for reading. And I am okay with that. Reading less also intensifies each experience that you have with the books that you do read. I can usually recount each book that I read, and it stays with me, but I have heard it said that people that read massive amounts of books cannot always recall what a particular book was about, it gets buried in the shuffle.

Reading is a wonderful experience, and I love living inside of the worlds created within books, but you need to live your life as well.

My Reading Goals In 2016

As I have mentioned in previous blog postings, I desire to experience a different kind of reading during 2016. This year I am only reading for me. No longer will I feel the pressure to keep up with the trend in the book communities, no longer will I gravitate towards the hyped up books that everyone is talking about, and no longer will I be reading children's books and young adult books (other then a few select young adult authors that have earned my respect). Some of the most disappointing reads this year involved books that were randomly picked up at the library, but the majority of disappointing books were those that are categorized in the young adult genre and were chosen based on talk through the BookTube community. No more. I have a carefully planned out array of books for my reading material during the year 2016. All books were carefully selected by research and cater to my newly developed tastes.

In the new year I will be reading a large amount of fantasy. Adult fantasy. Epic fantasy, high fantasy, they are all wonderful. And this brings me to my next reading goal for 2016. I will no longer be reading for quantity, rather for quality. Once you set that Goodreads reading challenge you begin to feel pressured to read in order to make that goal. That is not always a good thing. I myself have noticed that I shied away from some of the larger and thicker fantasy novels on my shelf because they would take too long to consume, instead opting for the smaller books so that I could read more in less time. That's absolute silliness. This year I will be setting my reading challenge to a more manageable amount so that I don't feel like I have to cram in those empty book calories. Who doesn't want to read 100 books over the course of a year, but what if you feel disappointed and unsatisfied with a large portion of those books? Was it really that great of a goal? No, instead I am going to read the books that I want to read, even if some of those books do have over a 1,000 page count. Maybe less books will ultimately be read, but if I enjoy a large majority of those books then it will make me happier then a larger book count ever did.

Another goal of mine is to reread some favorites. It has been a really long time since I have reread some of my favorite books and I am just itching to do exactly that. I always feel like I need to continue to tackle my TBR pile, and that rereading a book will get me no where. I will be doing as I please this year. Those unread books aren't going anywhere, and reading is a activity meant for enjoyment. Don't make reading into a job, or some kind of chore.

I am going to contradict myself here, but another goal of mine was to try to read the majority of the unread books on my bookshelves this year. I'm not going to stress out about it, but since I did a vast book unhauling earlier in the month I now feel like this goal is a little more realistic then what it formerly was.

2016 is going to be a good reading year!

Book Hoarder Versus Book Collector

How To Go From Book Hoarding To Book Collecting

What defines whether you are a book hoarder, or a book collector? I feel like there is a very clear difference between the two.

In Japan, they have a word for it: Tsundoku. It's a noun that describes a person who buys books and doesn't read them, and then lets them pile up on the floor, on shelves, and assorted pieces of furniture.

That is one very big indicator of a book hoarder, however there are also smaller indicators. For instance, you have the book hoarder that actually reads the books that they acquire but they are unwilling to ever remove a book from their hoard, regardless of whether they actually enjoyed that book or not. 

There is a large difference between having a book hoard and a book collection. A book hoard is a chaotic mess of disorder, excessive acquisition. A book collection has order, discernment, the careful selection of that of which is desired to own and that of which is not.

I am guilty of book hoarding. When I first started this book blog, and first stumbled upon BookTube, my biggest desire was to read all of the books, own all of the books. I still had the ability to unhaul books that I found myself disliking, but I also wanted to hang onto the books that I thought of as just being okay simply for the fact that I wanted to own a massive library. I noticed that most of the BookTuber's shelves looked like mine. A lot of books, not a very strong attachment to most of those books. My tastes in books has drastically changed throughout this year, and therefore I was no longer content with my personal library. I have finally gotten my library to a place that makes me happy. All of the books on my bookshelves are books that I have either already read and loved, or books that I have not yet read, but am excited to read.

It's not about how many books you own, it is about owning the books that mean something to you.

I don't desire to own books now purely for the sake of owning books. What brings me the greatest joy is owning books that I love.

Writing Book Reviews For A Book Series

There has been a issue during this month. This month was my month of conquering book series. How does one write a book review on a book that is a part of a series, without spoiling the said book for someone? You can't, not really. Not in the in depth fashion that you can with a stand alone or with the first book in a series or trilogy. One of my biggest pet peeves in the world of reading is when someone includes spoilers in a Goodreads reading status, or in a book review. I will not be one of those people. Those people deserve to be hung up by their toes over shark infested waters, that'll teach them! So, sadly my book reviews have suffered during this past month as a result of this. Bear with me.

Snow Day

Iowans are now officially in the midst of winter. With Thanksgiving not even yet upon us we are currently under a winter storm warning, nine to twelve inches of snow in the forecast (we just happen to be in the path of the heaviest band of snow), several inches already on the ground and still more falling. It will continue to snow through the night and into Saturday. It started to snow earlier this afternoon while I was on my lunch break at work. I watched in wonder as the very fine snowflakes begin to drift downwards, melting soon after touching the ground. By the time that I got off of my work shift and prepared to head home those very fine snowflakes had developed into the large, soft, and lazy snowflakes that seem to just float downwards before coming to rest on the nearest surface with a gentle caress and a soft whisper of a sigh. The green grass from earlier today was no more, instead a clean blanket of white had been draped over it. After the somewhat nerve wrecking trek home I was able to just relax and enjoy it for what it is. I have the entire weekend off with no need to leave my house tomorrow, and other then the shoveling that will be happening tomorrow, no responsibilities. And there is something magical about that first snowfall. The dramatic transformation, the quiet and stillness surrounding it all, the fresh and crisp air, the soft crunch of snow beneath your shoes, and the soft snowflakes settling all around you as they lazily drift downwards. Snow days also seem to get my creativeness flowing. Whether that just involves reading books, or something more along the lines of drawing, painting, or crocheting. Winter is a time to enjoy the simple things. Home comforts, or just the activity of playing in the snow with ones dogs (which they loved by the way, but I wonder how they will feel about it in three or more months from now?).

Snow days aren't always bad.

Goodreads Stat Page - A Brief Entertainment

I aimlessly wandered over to the stat page on Goodreads, first out of boredom but then I stayed out of sheer amazement. Apparently some people's long time goals in life are to make it onto the stat page of Goodreads.

Top 50 Users This Week

People who added the most books on Goodreads this week

Beiza added 8,639 books this week, and has 49, 324 books on their shelf.

More modestly is Liz Swan at the bottom of the stat page with 814 books added this week.

Good job everybody, you earned that top 50 users badge. I just hope that you didn't also develop carpal tunnel syndrome from all of that clicking.

Top 50 Readers This Week

People who read the most books on Goodreads this week

Kelli read 493 books this week, and even more astounding is the 4987 books that she has read for the entire year.

At the bottom of the list is Nyrmita Rivera with 54 books for the week.

These people are putting my reading to shame. I am truly impressed.

Top 100 Reviewers This Week

People with the most reviews on Goodreads this week

Kat Stark has written 465 book reviews this week. At the bottom of this list we have Rachel with 32 written book reviews.

Most Popular 100 Reviewers This Week

People who wrote reviews that got the most votes on Goodreads this week

Jesse with 1299 votes.

When your book reviews typically consist of one sentence fan-girl gushing do you really deserve to have the title of most popular reviewer? This is a on going theme with the BookTuber's on Goodreads. They have a large fan base because of their BookTube videos, so they simply have to post a book review of "Me likely a lot" and that review suddenly receives hundreds of likes by these fans of theirs. It's a little ridiculous. We do have a lot of well deserving book reviewers mixed in with these not so deserving ones. The people want what the people want.

Top 50 Reviews This Week

The most popular reviews on Goodreads this week

Jesse's review of "IDK WHAT TO SAY OTHER THEN I LOVED IT. IT WAS SO GOOD. GO READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T" ... Yes, because that book review was both well written, and thought out!

Ah well, it briefly entertained me.

The Reading Slump

The dreaded reading slump. We as readers are all destined to experience this at least once during our reading life, more logically is to expect to experience it many times throughout.

I have felt myself slowly slipping into a reading slump for the past few months now, and I am sure that you as readers of this blog have also possibly noticed a lag in my reading. Everyone becomes busy and has to cut down on their reading, but when one has the time to read and they chose not to ... that is something entirely different. Looking back on my reading history I have noticed that the books that I was not overly enthusiastic about are the ones that dragged me down the most in my reading (obviously), so the solution is to not read any books that aren't holding my attention, to only read books that I am excited about reading. I can feel this reading slump slowly starting to remedy itself, and I am getting excited about reading again. I already have the next few months reading all planned out and I am feeling pumped up and eager to jump into it. All books in the forecast are ones that I have been dying to read.

So what do you do if you find yourself in a reading slump?

My best piece of advice is that if you are not enjoying the book that you are currently reading, don't read it. There are too many good books out there to waste your time reading books that you are not enjoying. Give it a break while you read a different book, or just completely call it quits and move on. Read what you want to read, reading is for fun and forcing yourself to read a book that you don't want to read is not fun.

The "I just finished this wonderful book, what do I read next?" slump. I don't know about you, but I experience these kinds of slumps as well. It's great when you have another book all lined up and ready to go once the current book is completed, but what if you don't? You can try more books by that certain author if that author happens to have written more books. You can re-read a favorite book. You can try out a few different books by reading the first few pages until you feel a book catch your attention. Sometimes I start to read a book but I instantly feel that it isn't grabbing my attention and I decide that it isn't the right book for me at that time, choosing instead to try one, two, maybe even three other books by reading the first page or two and seeing which one stands out and fulfills that of which I am currently looking for in a book.

Diversity. No matter how much you love a certain genre, I can guarantee that at some point you will get burned out on it. Reading slump. I read several different genres, I read classic literature, fantasy, young adult, science fiction, and horror to a point. I try to switch up genres in order to prevent the genre burn out. I burnt out on the dystopian book genre, and I fear that there may be no relighting of that one.

Happy reading!

Touching On The Subject Of Book Ratings

I didn't use to dwell too long on the all too seemly simplicity of book ratings. Certainly not before joining Goodreads two years ago, and even less so before creating the very book blog that you are currently reading, roughly seven months ago. You as a reader generally knows what agrees with you in the book world and that of which does not, but does one tend to fully digest the books that one is reading, to really think about it and allow that book to freely speak to one, if one is not actively thinking about it? I think so, but I also think that when your next step following the completion of a book is to then rate it and compose a review on it, that you are perhaps subconsciously absorbing more out of that book because you are more actively thinking about it throughout the reading experience, whether aware of it or not. Much like being a part of a book club.

However there are so many things to take into consideration when rating a book. As a general rule I do have a pretty basic method of going about this, however certain things need to be taken into consideration when doing so. What a book seeks out to accomplish, and whether or not it succeeds or fails, plays a large part in my rating. Books can make you think, make you laugh, make you cry, purely entertain you, or scare you. All of these books are very different from each other, but all are possible candidates for a five star rating depending on how well the author executed it. That's one thing to take into consideration. I might rate a classic five stars because of the beautiful writing and the overall story that it has to tell, but I might rate another book five stars because of its entertaining value. So I definitely take into consideration what the author is trying to accomplish, as well as what feelings the book evoke. However, with that being said one thing that probably plays the most part in my rating system is the overall writing. The writing is one of the most important aspects of a book, closely followed up by the story itself. The two cannot exist alone without the other being there to balance them out. I cannot, and will not, read a ill written book. It just brings the whole quality of the book crashing down, and I can't enjoy a book no matter the story line, if I cannot even tolerate the writing. A book can also be beautifully written but the writing may be poorly concealing a weak story. Neither one works for me on a stand alone basis, they need to be equally balanced out. So those three all play a very large part in my rating process.

But then we have the actual ratings themselves. I am a critical rater of books, most people know this. I have a 3.40 average rating on Goodreads. So my star ratings might mean something different from other people's star ratings. I thought that it would be interesting to delve deeper into this subject.

One Star
One star ratings are reserved for those books that I actually hated. Yes, hated. I hated the writing, I hated the story, I hated the characters. There just wasn't anything about this book that I did like. These books are never read fully through, I usually cast them away from me almost immediately. These are the books that fill me with nothing but disgust, distaste, and contempt.

Two Stars
This rating doesn't actually differ very much from my one star rating other then the writing and/or story being perhaps a mere fraction better then the books thrown into my one star ratings. These are the books that I did not enjoy, did not finish, but that I did not hate quite so severely as the one star books.

Three Stars
This is where my rating changes up a little more. Being a person whom highly believes in not wasting your time on bad books, the books that fall into this category are also very susceptible to not being completed. However a three star rating means that the writing and the story were vast improvements from my one star, and two star ratings. So although this book probably didn't appease the book snob in me, other readers perhaps shouldn't scratch these books off of their future reading based sorely on my judgement, as they just might enjoy them. Especially my 3.5 star ratings. These are books that I just considered as 'okay' reads, not hating them but definitely not liking them either. Stuck in the middle.

Four Stars
For me, there is a huge difference between a 4 star rating and a 4.5 star rating. A four star rating means that I really liked it, however I don't want to own it and I will certainty never be reading it a second time. A 4.5 star rating however means that I actually loved it. This rating was so close to being a five star rating, but there were probably a few small things that slightly held it back from achieving that. These are the books that I actually want to own, and will be reading many times over.

Five Stars
This is the highest possible rating. This rating is reserved for very special books. All things have to add up in this book. Writing, plot, character development. It has to speak to me, it has to entertain me. It has to be special in order to receive this very special rating. You won't often see me rating a book as five stars. These books find a permanent home in my library and are read, reread, and reread again.

So as you can see, my rating system probably doesn't add up to a lot of other peoples rating systems. I wanted to touch on this so that you have a better idea of where my thoughts lay when I do rate and review books on here.

I would be interested to hear how other people rate books, and what those ratings mean as far as their thoughts go.

Graphic Novels - Hate Them Or Love Them

I have noticed a explosion of graphic novel readers lately on both Booktube, and Goodreads. People are reading them, and reading a lot of them. Sometimes reading nothing but graphic novels.

Do you read graphic novels, or have you ever read a graphic novel?

I can't claim to have done either. I have never read one ... and quite frankly I can't foresee myself ever reading one. They just don't appeal to me ... at all. I'm all for people reading any sort of material, as long as it gets people reading, but I also kind of feel like graphic novels have, in a sense, taken over the role of real books for a lot of younger kids and teenagers. Possibly stunting their reading, or eliminating the reading of real books altogether. Yes, real books. Nothing wrong with reading graphic novels but I do have that mindset of them not being real books. Maybe a little close-minded of me considering that I have never actually read one, but come on! Graphic novels are not real books. A horse with a cone taped to its head is not a real unicorn, it is a horse with a cone taped to its head. You can still love that horse with the cone taped to its head, but love it as a horse with a cone taped to its head rather then love it as the unicorn that it is not. Meaning, you can still read graphic novels but treat them as graphic novels and not as books. Never give up your unicorn for a horse with a cone taped to its head. Otherwise you will just have a horse with a cone taped to its head ... and I will have a unicorn.

Waiting For The Next Release In A Series

Guys, I'm sure that we have all related to this subject at least once as a reader, some of us series readers much more frequently then others. Waiting for the next release in a book series.

One part of me enjoys discovering already completed book series so that I can marathon right through the series without having to wait for each of the books to be published, the other part of me kind of enjoys the excitement and anticipation that comes with the wait.

Regardless if you are one or the other, or perhaps both such as myself, this brings me to my question. If reading a series do you typically reread all of the formerly released books in that series in order to bring yourself up to date before each new book is released? For myself I would have to say that it really all depends on the circumstances. Some authors are very proficient in their writing, managing to release one to two new books each year. If that be the case then I usually don't feel the need to reread a entire series before the next is due to be released as I have a fairly good memory and retain most of the important information that one needs to know. If however a certain author takes longer to publish a book then I may feel the desire to refresh myself by rereading the series.

Rain Rain Go Away

It has been down pouring rain the past two days here in Iowa. Apparently there have been two attempted deliveries made during those two days but because I was gone at work during those attempts, and because it was raining, the packages were not left at my house as usual (my deck is not covered, therefore not providing any protection against the weather). I could have stopped at the post office to pick up my packages during my lunch break today if I had known, but alas I did not. One of the packages is from Book Depository, and the other two are from Amazon and contain items for my home library. It's a surprise that you guys may see in pictures if these packages are delivered tomorrow, or possibly picked up at the post office by me. A hint, I have been redecorating my library and changing up the look of it. I am so impatiently awaiting the arrive of these three packages, how will I ever sleep tonight?!

Venturing Away From A Book Genre

A reader's tastes in books are never completely set in stone. Maturing, developing, and changing throughout the course of their reading life. Shifting also based on mood.

I have never personally developed a taste for several book genres and at this point and time in my life I feel fairly comfortable in stating that I probably never will. Those genres would be romance, chick-lit, non fiction, and contemporary. My genres of choice being fantasy, science fiction, and adult fiction/classical literature.

I did recently venture back into the young adult genre earlier this year after having not read any for several years. Although I enjoyed the ride I do remember now why it is that I had originally ventured away from this genre the first time around. The books are typically repetitive with little to no originality, the cast of characters are too young for me to find relatable, the writing is usually dumbed-down, and dare I say not very good ... going from the young adult genre back to the adult genre there is a significant difference in the reading experience. A difference that I can appreciate. Now, I am not bunching all young adult into this category, just the majority. I have vastly enjoyed some YA authors, Sarah J. Maas, Patrick Ness, and Victoria Aveyard to name a few of my favorites. These authors are all labeled as being young adult but truthfully their writing abilities far surpass other young adult authors that I have read. I think of their books more as 'new adult'. I will never stop reading young adult altogether because there are some gems mixed in with the trash, and thankfully I have no issue with starting a book and not finishing it as this will allow me to more quickly shift through the ones that I don't want to read. But at this point I feel weary of the genre and I feel myself venturing away from it. I'll stick with the authors that I have discovered, but I hesitate to try out any new ones at this time as I have been disappointed with the last few books that I have read so far this month. I feel a lot of adult fantasy in the reading forecast for the coming months.

Have you ever gotten sick of a certain genre? Did you take a break from it and found that you enjoyed it again once going back to it? Or did you venture away from it permanently?

A Disappointing Week Of Reading

This week was very disappointing as far as reading goes. Not one book was actually completed this week, not a one. I am currently reading two books but I haven't actually finished any books. Work has been hectic, time consuming, and exhausting. It hasn't left me much free time in order to read. I have been reading of course, just not as much or as often as I would personally choose.

Reading will be taking place over this weekend ... and I suppose household duties will have to be accomplished as well.

Book Series - The Perks And The Downfalls

The perks of book series -

We all know that there are perks to book series, otherwise we wouldn't be reading them. A series is able to become more fleshed out then your typical stand alone. The character development and the world building is often most noticeable. There is more possibility for stronger characters that we are able to get to know through extended books and we often become very attached to them in the process, and the world building can be quite phenomenal. A talented writer can have the same results in a stand alone, but a series can offer so much more. There is something magical about returning to a world that has been created and that of which you already know and love, our previously acquainted characters welcoming us back into their lives.

The much anticipated release of a new book to a series. First you await the official announcement, then you await the title release, the release date, and the cover design. Once the publication date has been set you then eagerly count down to the big day. It's like being a child at Christmas time.

The downfalls of book series - 

There can be a negative to any book form, these are just my personal opinions of the cons of book series.

I find myself beginning a lot of book series but not finishing them. This has become a problem and one that didn't use to exist for me. I used to typically marathon a entire book series regardless of how many books it contained or how large the books were. Now, it has nothing to do with whether I liked the book or not but rather it being more of a issue of there being too many other books that I desire to read as well. It is merely a time constraint. The popular phrase of "Too many books and so little time" has never been truer. I have begun a lot of series that I need/want to finish. So there is obviously a time commitment when reading a book series.

The other one? As exciting and as thrilling as the anticipated book release is, there is a very real possibility that you may have forgotten some of the plot by the time of the next books release date unless you plan on rereading the entire series in order to refresh yourself on it. Or it could very well end at a cliffhanger, making you wait a entire year or possibly longer ... causing you to go into a depression in the meantime.

Book series are terrific, and they will probably be the death of me.

Author Disappointments

I just posted a book review that I feel closely discusses this issue, but I wanted to further discuss it in its own post.

I have heard some people say that they almost have a fear of starting a new book because they are scared that it is going to disappoint them. One part of me wants to call them insane because how can your reading life even function in this manner, while the other part of me is slowly starting to have the same fears.

I recently read a book by what I used to consider as a favorite author of mine. I read one of his books and I loved it so much that I proceeded to purchase the four paperback boxed set of that series as well as his most recent two hardcover editions to a trilogy. I felt safe in doing so because I now considered him as one of my favorite writers. Upon reading the first book to this trilogy of his I was dismayed to discover that his writing wasn't anything like his writing from his other series, the one that I love so greatly. The difference was so disbelieving that I very nearly had to do a double take and check the authors name on the book just to be sure that it was indeed the same guy.

This got me thinking on two different things. The first being that you won't necessary enjoy all of the books that a certain author produces, as horrible as that thought is ... and the second being that I have noticed a slight hesitation when it comes to reading unread books on my bookshelves, because I do worry that I won't like them. The hype gets your expectations up so high that sometimes the fall back down can be crushing.

I will read the books even if they do crush and destroy my dreams in the process.

The Issues That I Have With Booktube

I discovered the Booktube community over on Youtube several months back now and I have been watching videos on there ever since, of course having my favorite channels that I have subscribed to. Booktube is basically vloggers, rather then blog they vlog. I really enjoy getting a glimpse into other peoples reading lives, and I must say that to a book lover such as myself these videos can be really addicting! But I do have issues with some of the things that go on over in the Booktube world.

The lack of reading. A lot of these booktubers are frequently posting videos of book hauls, and discussing soon to be released books as well as really popular books, but it would appear that they don't actually read very many books themselves. 0 to 4 Books a month seems about where their reading hovers. Life happens, people become busy, I get it, but if you are a book reviewer and you have a entire channel dedicated to books and reading, and you're reading zero books a month or maybe possibly four books ... what's with that?

The book related games. As I just mentioned previously, a lot of booktubers don't actually seem to read very much, so what do you make videos of if you aren't reading any books? You make videos of book related games and challenges. I'm not interested in watching that, skipping those videos altogether. Are they just using the booktube community because they know that there is a audience out there, not actually being very big readers themselves?

The massive book collections. Okay, okay, I own a lot of books. But I am actually very selective about what books I do own. I buy books that I have already read and rated a 4.25 or higher star rating because these are the books that I desire to own and will eventually return to and reread, I buy newly released books from favorite authors of mine or newly released books to a series that I already own, and I also will purchase books that I really desire to read but I usually first try to get it through my library as these are the books that I typically later will unhaul because I didn't like them enough to keep. Some of these booktubers however have never seemed to have heard of this thing called a library. They will literally buy any and all books that they have the slightest inkling to read rather then seek them out through the library first. Its like a contest of who can haul the most books, and who owns the most books. I have no issue with people owning large quantities of books except for when those books are for the most part going unread. I have to ask, what is even the point then? I think that I was most bothered by one booktuber giving us a tour of their bookshelves, stating that they own well over nine hundred books and that they have read less then 25% of the books that they own. They said that they love owning a large amount of unread books because they like the feeling of unlimited possibilities ... yes, okay, I like having some unread books on my shelves as well because I like the feeling of being able to browse my own shelves for my next reading venture, but what I don't like is owning books that I am never going to actually get around to reading or books that I didn't love. There are libraries out there.

The book hoarding. Booktubers don't seem to really part with their books despite if they didn't really enjoy them or not. They will talk about not really caring for a certain book but that book stays on their bookshelves  despite that fact ... Okay ... I can't stand to have unloved books sitting on my shelves. A book has to rate at least a four star in order for me to keep it. I know that I have my weird rules and everything, but I just get the impression that its once again all about how many books you own.

The ARC's (advanced reader copies). Some of the most popular booktubers basically have free books thrown at them left and right. ARC's and finished copies. Now I know that you won't always be inclined to read a book that you didn't request when it isn't normally a book that you would read anyway, but some of these books were requested and still aren't read. The smaller scale booktubers usually put in much more of a effort to read and review ARC's.

Booktuber popularity. This one only bothers me over in the Goodreads community where these booktubers also reside. Do you know who the top reviewers are over at Goodreads? The booktubers. Generally their reviews consist of "OMG this book is so good!" or "SoooooOooooo GooooOooood!" which then promptly receives hundreds of likes from their followers which instantly boosts their review ratings up. They don't write out well executed book reviews on Goodreads, but theirs usually receive far more attention then the well thought out and well written reviews.

The sameness. It seems as if all booktubers just read young adult and graphic novels. I have recently stumbled across a few however that read a lot more adult fantasy and science fiction.

The unreliability. So many booktubers are being sponsored for their videos, which makes it really difficult to take them at their word. After all, if they are being paid to promote a certain book can you really trust them when they rave about it? So many books that booktubers seem to go cocoa for cocoa puffs over I actually find myself hating ... so does the sponsoring affect their true opinions? I'm guessing that it does. Be honest in your book reviews, readers will respect your honestly and trust your judgement and thoughts.

This by no means refers to all booktubers! It's just a cycle that is getting tiring.

Now that I got all of that off my chest I am off to watch some booktube videos!

Book Tropes That I Hate

Hey guys, I created a list of book tropes that I find myself despising. These are the book tropes that I hate.

1. The insta-love trope. I have read several books containing this insta-love trope and it never works. There is no chemistry development between them, it feels forced and unnatural. Stiff, awkward, fake. A good author develops the relationship slowly and naturally, sometimes even unexpectedly. I have become so tired of the love struck at first sight theme that has been circulating the young adult genre. How are you supposed to become invested in a relationship when on page thirty they have met for the first time and by page fifty they are proclaiming undying love for one another?

2. The superwoman trope. This is a recurring trope that I have seen in young adult dystopian. Teenage girl who is the only one apparently that can save her people from a corrupted government. She is, of course, also gorgeous and all of the men desire her. And if it happens to be a book where powers or abilities are involved she will probably have a stronger ability then anyone else that sets her apart. Basically I just feel as if this book trope has become overused just in general, overused to the point that I don't even feel like reading a book that fits this description anymore. Books that I have read recently that fit in this trope in one way or another would be, "Matched", "Legend", "The Darkest Minds", "Shatter Me", and "Divergent", just to name a few.

3. High ranking children. What do I mean by this? Well in the young adult genre it is very likely that you will run into 15, 16, 17 year old kids that are holding high ranks. Leader of a rebellion, captain of the guard, etc. I find it very hard to believe and it just casts the entire book as very childish in my opinion. This is one very big issue that I have with the young adult genre and it is why I am beginning to drift back into the adult fantasy. I just can't relate to these younger casts of characters anymore.

4. Love triangles. I hate love triangles, especially because it usually centers around the girl who is gorgeous and is saving the world ... refer back to the superwoman trope. One love triangle that I feel was done tastefully is in the "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas. If there is going to be a love triangle this is the way to do it.

I have a lot more book tropes that I hate, but I typically don't read the genres where those tropes take place.

You Don't Have To Read All Of The Books

Since joining Goodreads two years ago I have been striving to read more books. I have always been a vigorous reader, but Goodreads encouraged me to read even more, to aim higher. Then I started to watch videos on the booktube community over on Youtube. Suddenly there were just so many books that I wanted to read that I just jumped in head first. I wanted to read them all. I discovered a lot of authors that I would now consider as new favorites, I discovered a lot of really great books that I would now consider as new favorites, but I also waded through a lot of books that I just could have lived without ever having read, most of them being from the young adult genre. I went a few years without reading young adult so it feels like now that I have gone back to it, the amount of it is slightly ... overwhelming to say the least. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do.

But young adult is a tricky genre for me, the majority of it feeling a little too juvenile for my tastes, poorly executed. Its kind of a hit or a miss in that category. And I can tell you that as of this point I am starting to feel burned out on some points. Dystopian, oh boy am I burned out on dystopian right now. I first got into the world of dystopian after reading "The Hunger Games", that book first introduced me to that subject. But after reading multiple books on this genre it almost just feels like a repeat of itself. I am also feeling burned out on vampire books. Ever since the "Twilight" epidemic the young adult genre has been flooded with books based on vampires. Currently I have quite a few fantasy and paranormal books on my library book TBR pile, none of the previously mentioned subjects make a appearance. I think that I am going to take a break from those for a while.

I will always give a book a chance when it catches my attention, but I will not give it my time unless earned. I have always been able to put down a book and declare it too awful to continue to read it, but now I am going to be even more critical when it comes to books. Too often do I finish a book and feel ... nothing as far as my reaction to it goes. That's not good, that's not the sign of a well written book and it's not the type of book that I want to waste my time on. I'm pretty good at judging what kind of a book it will be just by its first few opening chapters, but sometimes I have found myself pushing through despite my feelings on it just because of the large hype surrounding the book. These are always the books that end up disappointing me. No more! I have already pulled out three of the books from my stack of library books that will be going back unread. "Fablehaven", and "Gregor the Overlander" simply for the mere fact that they are middle grade books and I just don't feel as if I am the right audience. Middle grade just feels a little too immature (children's classics are entirely different however). I will also be returning "Talon" to the library unread. It was a impulse grab while browsing the shelves at the library, but honestly the reviews don't sound too promising and I even cracked it open and read the first page ... no. I'm not going to read it.

Don't give into the peer pressure. I did and it nearly destroyed me. You don't have to read all of the books.

I Won't Be Making That Mistake Again

I placed a book order with Barnes and Noble about a week ago, this was a decent sized order consisting of seven books. Normally Barnes and Noble is fairly quick with the time frame that it takes them to process and ship out my book order, typically in about one or two days time and then received at my house in another three days time following that, my order taking roughly five to six days total from the time that I place it. I have a Barnes and Noble membership which costs $25.00 a year but well worth every penny as you receive discount codes and coupons, and free unlimited, no maximum purchase required, express shipping. Well days went by and no progress was made on my order being processed, so finally looking into it, being the impatience kind of person that I am, I very soon realized that one of the books that I had placed on my book order wasn't due to be released until September 1st 2015. I knew this at the time of purchase but I figured that I would just receive my order in two separate packages. Well no, apparently I won't be receiving  any books from my entire order until the release date of that book ... I did not know this. Having free unlimited express shipping I would have just simply placed two separate orders so I wouldn't have had to wait so long for the rest of my books. I won't be making that mistake again. Never mind the fact that I probably won't be reading any of the books in that order until the month of September, I want them now!

I want my precious!

2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge Is Completed

Do you remember when I mentioned earlier in the year that I was falling behind in my yearly Goodreads reading challenge? Well I did, but that challenge as of tonight has been completed. Last year I set my challenge at fifty books and surpassed it by reading seventy books, this year I set my challenge at sixty five books. I just hit my sixty five book challenge and I still have slightly more then four more months of reading left in the year. I plan on setting the bar a little higher in the year 2016, make it more of a challenge. I am curious to see where the final read count where be at by new years.