Posted January 16, 2016 by Jana in Discussion, Personal / 23 Comments
With all the excitement of the holidays last month, it has taken me since Christmas Eve to finish Winter by Marissa Meyer (I finished it in the wee hours of yesterday morning, and it was everything a Jana could have dreamed of.). Of course, this means I’ve had pretty much no content for my blog. lol. And I swear, I felt guilty that things were so quiet over here while I took three weeks to read one book. But then…
I realized, Winter is the longest book I’ve ever read (824 pages)! So basically this is a huge accomplishment. I usually feel very overwhelmed by big books because they are a major time commitment. They latch onto your emotions and take you away from this world. I’m so glad I was willing to give myself the time to read such a long book. AND it was one I bought! I read it for me, and I rarely take the time to do that.
Anyway, I’m wondering… What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?
Posted December 24, 2015 by Jana in About Me, Discussion / 4 Comments
It has been snowing up a storm over here in my neck of the woods, and now that I’m all ready for Christmas and Santa will be on his way soon tonight, I finally have time for some relaxing! I immediately knew I wanted to read Winter by Marissa Meyer. I have been so excited for this book, but with my Christmas event on the horizon I was busy reading Christmas books to post about this month! Now I’m done with those, so I finally have time! I always gravitate towards fantasy or dystopian books this time of year. My TBR for the rest of December and all of January is fantasy, actually. I don’t know what it is, but I think fantasy novels are so cozy! I love a book I can curl up on the couch with and spend my day all snuggly under a blanket while drinking hot chocolate. I’m planning to finish my very first Harry Potter read-through this winter as well! The first one was very magical and cozy, and I’m excited to continue.
Anyway, this all got me wondering what kinds of books you enjoy reading this time of year. What are you going to be reading tonight? Do you have a favorite genre or book that you read during the holidays? I’ve heard some people always read Pride and Prejudice or Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia. Then there are some friends of mine who love to read summery books to escape the cold weather. What’s your preference?
Posted August 28, 2015 by Jana in About Me, Discussion / 21 Comments
I can’t read scary books at night because I’m a wimp! For example: Shadowlands by Kate Brian. I read this book over the summer, and it was SCARY. I chose to read it when I did because I was on a road trip with my mom and sister, and I knew I would be sleeping in the same hotel room, driving in the same car, and basically not being alone ever. I read all my mysteries on a cruise ship for the same reason. I’m never alone. I’m this way with a lot of books, hence the reason I pretty much never even touch the horror genre. I was a wimp reading Rebecca last October, and it wasn’t even that scary! Same with The Caged Graves! I’m a total baby. Once upon a time I watched a scary movie and slept with my bedroom door locked. To be extra safe, I made my boyfriend at the time sleep on the couch downstairs by the front door. I love scary, but I can’t do it!
October is coming soon. I love the idea of reading eerie, atmospheric, slightly creepy books during October because it’s getting cold and it’s fall and Halloween is coming. This is why I read Rebecca during this time last year. But I just. Can’t. Handle it! What do I do!? I just finished Daughter of Deep Silence last night and was scared to walk down my dark hall to go to the bathroom. So I didn’t. I just went to sleep buried under all my blankets. COME ON JANA. Suck it up!
What’s the scariest book you’ve ever read? And how do you HANDLE them? Teach me your ways! Not Being a Chicken 101 begins now.
Posted June 19, 2015 by Jana in Discussion / 25 Comments
This is a topic that has been bugging me probably since I started blogging six years ago. I’m not the fastest reader in the world. I’m not SLOW, but I can’t possibly read as quickly as many of my friends do. I can’t do a book a day. I can’t even always do a book a week because I have a lot of hobbies aside from reading. I also like to take time between books to absorb what I read and reflect on the experience I had. It’s kind of like breaking up with someone. I can’t just start dating someone else immediately. I need my time!
Back in January I set a goal to read a book every 4.5 days. I was doing really well for a while, but I’ve fallen behind. Required reading for my YA lit class in my grad program took up all of my reading time for a few months. I went on vacation for a month, and even though I like to think I read a lot on vacation I don’t ever have as much time as I plan on having. I love sightseeing and shopping, too!
So I guess this all boils down to one question. Is a book blogger’s worth determined by how many books they read? Do people get more followers if they post reviews almost every day? Do publishers trust the bloggers who read 200-300 books a year more than those who read 70-80? I’ve always been a firm believer in the quality versus quantity concept, but I’m not so sure that’s the case here.
What have you noticed? Do you feel like you don’t read enough? How many books did you read last year? How are you doing on your Goodreads reading challenge so far?
Posted September 11, 2014 by Jana in Discussion / 38 Comments
So, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. A LOT more than usual. And I’ve been reading books I worried I might not like. I do my best to request books that I think I will love, but so often I only have a small summary to go off of and no reviews from my trusted friends. And then the reviews start to roll in and I begin to regret requesting. But since I did, I feel I owe it to the publisher and the author to give the book a fair shot regardless of what I’ve read about it. You know what it’s like. They spent money on me to send me a book, fully expecting that it would benefit them. Unless I read something super extreme about a book (like it contained brutal violence, lots of swear words, or animal cruelty), I will do my best to give it the shot it deserves.
So often, my book lover’s intuition is correct and I know pretty quickly that I’m reading a book that will ultimately end in DNF. Once I feel that way, I’m pretty positive that reading 20-50 more pages will not change my mind. I’ve been known to DNF as early as 20 pages in. And I feel like that’s fair. I read until I knew I would not be finishing it. In doing this, I can end a happy person instead of an annoyed person who wasted their time. I’ve seen, though, that some people mention in their review policies that they will read a book until they are halfway through, no matter what. And I wonder why they torture themselves. So I figured I’d ask you to weigh in on this.
Do you have a DNF policy? If so, what is it? When do you feel it’s ok to quit reading a book and move on?
