Category: Let’s Discuss

I have to start by pointing out the obvious: As a white woman, my opinion on this subject doesn’t matter all that much. Some people might even say I shouldn’t get to have an opinion on this. But I do, so… I’m giving it… with this little disclaimer that you can take it or leave it as you see fit. I actually started writing this as a note in my review of Picture Us in the Light, but then it was getting really long, and I thought I’d turn it into its own discussion post. I happened across a random comment on Goodreads where someone said they wondered if Disney was afraid to use names that sounded too Asian in Picture Us in the Light, since all the characters have American-sounding first names. This seemed like a strange reason to write the book off to me, especially given the fact that the… Read more »

I actually started writing this as a completely different post (how I read differently now that I’m writing more seriously), but I ended up writing a lot about this voice, and I decided to go with it. Maybe I’ll write that other post another time. But for now, I’m talking only about voice. What is it that makes it so hard to capture? Is it something we think about when we read, or is it just there? Voice in Books First of all, if you’re sitting there wondering what I’m even talking about, let’s define “voice” when it comes to writing. Voice is simply what makes a character stand out as an individual—what makes the character sound like them. Voice can be established in a lot of ways—little repeated words and phrases, an attitude (such as a snarky teenage voice), worldview, phrasing, apparent education level that’s evidenced in word choice, etc. It’s actually… Read more »

I was tempted to take this week off from the blog completely just to catch up on commenting and visiting my friends in the blogosphere, but I decided I couldn’t bear to disappear completely for the week. Instead, I decided to write a quick  post to tide you all over.  🙂 Great Reasons to Get To Know Your Bookish (AKA Book Blogger and Other Booklover) Friends Better: Books aren’t everything. I know, it’s practically sacrilegious to say this, but we are more than the books we read. (I mean, we’re at least 1% something else, right?) Getting to know your bookish friends’ other interests lets you know them more as a person. You can give them better book recommendations. Recently, AJ @ Read All the Things commented on one of my reviews and mentioned that she might be interested in giving the book a try. I know she’s not a fan of books that heavily… Read more »

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I do a mixture of reviews on my blog, and I sometimes feel what types are the most effective. So, I decided to do a little analysis. WARNING: I make no claims here about my scientific skills. I tried to crunch some numbers, but I did this more as a fun exercise than a scientific query. Keep that in mind! I looked at all the reviews I posted in 2017 and did a little comparison. First off, let me tell you what types of reviews I compared: Bite-Sized Reviews: This is where I review four or five books in one post, and each review is (relatively) short. I don’t use bullet points or anything. I just talk about my impressions of the book. (I never have a giveaway with these.) “Regular” Reviews: One review per post (sometimes two, if the books are in a… Read more »

Book Outlet’s Boxing Day sale is pretty much impossible for a book lover to resist. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. It’s not a personal weakness. No way! I have WAY too many books on my shelves, but whenever this sale comes around, I suddenly find way more books that I need now! And they totally get me with their “spend X dollars to get Y dollars off” because I’m always so close to that next level—of course I need to find a few more books. That was the case with this latest haul. I managed to get $30 off (by getting my cart up to $75). I know I’m being a slave to marketing, but this is one of those cases where I just can’t bring myself to mind. When I figure out what I spent per book it’s only $2.68 per book—that’s less than I’d spend on postage to trade books… Read more »