Hello my friends and welcome back!! As you already know, it’s time for Let’s Talk Bookish. Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by me, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.
Today’s topic is: Are TBRs necessary to be considered a book blogger, or reader? (suggested by Heran @ Be Frisky)
Many thanks to Heran for suggesting!! This is definitely an interesting topic because I thought that everybody had a TBR, and that it was one of those things that you just had to have as a reader.
First off, obviously no. You don’t have to have a to-be-read shelf, or list. There are benefits to having one, but nobody can force you, or say that you are not a reader if you don’t have a TBR. It’s simple: live, and let live guys.
Are there pros to having a TBR? Yes. Definitely.
They can help you keep track of all the books that have piqued your interest and give you a wide selection when you aren’t sure what to pick up next. It’s also kind of important sometimes when you’re doing tags, or TBR posts, or whatever, and the question asks you to find xyz in books from your TBR.
Are there cons to having a TBR? Yes. Absolutely.
This seems to be a problem for a lot of people. They add A LOT of books (think several hundreds, and thousands) to their TBR, and they really do want to read all of these, and then they have this mountain of books that probably sticks out into the great Milky Way. This can either discourage them and they never plow through it, or they actually push through and start making headway. But then a new book comes out, and they have to read it, and a friend recommends another book here, and you get another ARC there, and they end up back at square one.
It’s a blessing. And a curse.
In conclusion, if you don’t want to have a TBR, that is your choice, and people should respect it, and it doesn’t mean that you are not a reader or blogger.
That’s it for this Friday! You can expect a post sometime this Sunday with November’s topics, and it will also be available on the Let’s Talk Bookish page.
Do you have a TBR and how many books are on it? Do you plan on actually pushing through and reading all the books on there? Do you think TBR’s are necessary? How was your week? Chat with me in the comments below!
Good morning dear readers! How are you doing today? It’s pretty cold here in Atlanta (in the 40’s! Fahrenheit though), which is something, since just a few weeks ago, the temperatures were in the 90’s. I hope you’re keeping warm (or cool), and enjoying the weather wherever you are!
Anyways, welcome again to Let’s Talk Bookish! Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by me, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.
Today’s topic is: What are some tropes/characters that you think are poorly or under represented in books?
You can choose to write about just tropes, or just characters, or about misrepresented ones, or underrepresented ones, or all four all together. This post is already super late, so I’m just going to do two character types that I think are underrepresented.
Home Schooled Students
I’m going to say that this is underrepresented because I’m pretty confident that I have never read a book with a home schooled main character. And I’m talking about the present day/contemporaries, and not historical fiction novels.
I’m home schooled and I love to see books with such representation because there are many different ways to home school. I do an online school, and take classes with teachers and other students, but another home schooled student might just do text books and end of year exams at home. It’d be interesting to read about what’s it’s like for other home-schooled kids, and seeing them being just normal out-going, or introverted (you can come read my life story for this…), kids.
Female Muslim MCs
I am a Muslim girl, and I love reading books with all sorts of representation, especially female Muslim representation. And I’ve found so many good books with this, but I’m also a bit disappointed. They are still not really common. And many of these girls in these books are not like me at all, and I’m kind of trying to find something that I can relate to more. And so while I love the rep and the fact that YA or books in general are diversifying to include other cultures and religions, I find myself still feeling a little left out because I don’t have a favorite character, that is really kind of like me.
What are some misrepresented or underrepresented characters or tropes? Have you read a good book with home schooled students? What’s your favorite type of character? What’s one trope that you love to read? Chat with me in the comments below!
Good morning my lovely readers! I hope you are having a fantastic day. Welcome to Let’s Talk Bookish. Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by me, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.
Today’s topic is: Sexual Content in YA – Is there too much sexual content in YA books?
This topic was suggested by the lovely Ruqs @ Many Things Bookish, so thank you so much! If you’d like to suggest a topic as well, head over to my contact page, or use this form to share your suggestion!
I think that yes, there is too much sexual content in YA books.
First, I think we need to define what YA is. YA books, an acronym for Young Adult books, are books aimed at teenagers between the ages of around 12 to 18 (Wikipedia). Just from this, then YES, absolutely, there is too much sexual content in YA books, especially if there are 12 year olds out there who are reading such books.
But I’ve noticed that some people have started to classify some books as Upper YA, meaning that it’s for the older kids in this age range, or basically it’s not for young kids. This helps a lot because then it’s easier to guess which books are going to be more…explicit than others.
I also think there is a difference between romance and sexual content. Romance doesn’t have to be 100% bad, and it doesn’t have to become sexual content either. It can be just that, romance.
Sexual content however, is on another whole level, and I think there should be warnings, or something that lets the reader know that this isn’t the perfectly innocent book that they plan to read. Especially for books in the YA region, which are read by young kids, and older teenagers (even adults) alike. Adults or older teenagers may not mind much, but the younger ones shouldn’t have to be exposed so early on to this kind of thing. It wouldn’t hurt to put a note at the beginning of the book warning the reader about what they’re about to experience.
And this isn’t just for protecting younger kids, it’s also for anyone who doesn’t want to read that kind of thing. I don’t want to be picking up a book looking for a heist or a mystery and then having to skip every other page because the two characters can not get their hands off each other. It makes me so mad, because it’s misleading to sell the book as something I want to read, and then fill the pages with so much stuff that I am 100% not here for.
I think an easy way to fix this is to create a different category for the younger half of the 12-18 range, and leave Young Adult for the other half. Or we could just call the more innocent books YA, and the other not so innocent ones Upper YA. I don’t know, but I think that something needs to be done about it,
What do you think? Is there too much sexual content in YA books? Have you ever read a book and was disappointed to find out it was nothing like you expected? Should warnings be put at the beginning of the book or a new category should be created all together? Chat with me in the comments below!
Hi guys and welcome to my first Let’s Talk Bookish post! Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by J.R. @ Eternity Books, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.
Today’s topic is: Bookish/Blogging Myths.
You can choose to write about bookish myths, or blogging myths, or about both! I’ve chosen to do a little bit of both, and talk about some myths, untrue sayings, and untrue expectations that people have about books/reading and blogging.
#1: Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover – A saying that most don’t follow
I am going to go ahead and say it. I think, and based on what I’ve seen on Goodreads, people do judge books by their covers. Especially books with gorgeous covers. This is one of the things that nobody cares much about and does, because who can resist a beautiful cover???
To be perfectly honest with you, I have personally chosen not to read books because the cover was ugly. I use covers to decide if I should check out the books further, and mostly avoid books with covers that are not pleasing.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! We don’t have all the time in the world (we’ve got books to read!), and if something doesn’t catch our attention at first glance, then you shouldn’t feel bad about not checking it out. Imagine going through Goodreads and looking through every. single. book. just so you don’t judge it unfairly. I think that would be completely impossible.
#2: Classics Are The Gods of Literature – The Greatest Lie Ever
Most of the times, for school, you have to read a bunch of stories that are considered literary classics, many of which were written long ago, and some many centuries ago (Shakespeare anyone?).
The problem is, these books are so highly praised, and are called classics which are supposedly timeless, it’s pretty much ingrained in our minds that if we don’t like them, then there is something definitely wrong with us.
Here’s the truth: most of the classics that I’ve read have been horrible. I’m actually trying to recollect any that I have liked, and the only thing I can come up with is Anne of the Green Gables (I loved this series!!! This is probably part of the reason why I love English history and the Victorian Era) and maybe A Christmas Carol (I liked the moral/theme).
Everything else, such as books by Mark Twain, Charles Dickens (minus Christmas Carol), Lord of the Flies by William Golding (I passionately hated this book), A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (I didn’t even manage past the first few pages), were not good. And that’s a problem because this makes kids hate books and it also bores them because it isn’t relevant to their lives.
#3: It’s So Easy To Be A Blogger – Ok, maybe this is The Greatest Lie Ever
Sorry to burst your bubble, but nope, blogging is not easy. Sure it’s fun, it’s amazing when you meet so many supportive amazing lovely fellow bloggers, it’s a chance to be creative and let yourself shine, but it is far from easy.
Being a blogger means countless hours spent writing and perfecting posts, blog hopping, responding to comments, and constantly worrying about your stats. Okay, some of you may not worry about your stats, but I 100% do. It is energy draining, it is time consuming, and it can also be sometimes depressing.
However, I personally think the pros outweigh the cons, because it is so uplifting to see other people read and love your work, admire your site design, tag you, and nominate you for awards (this always make me so giddy and happy!! Thank you so much guys!!!!). It’s also amazing how bloggers support you during hard times, are super welcoming to those who are new to this, and in general are the most amazing, kind, and lovely human beings! It may not be easy, but bloggers have your back every step of the way.
#4: You Will Have Instant Followers and Become the Next Big Thing – *Sigh* Yet Another Great Myth
TBH, I thought it would be super easy to gain followers. Just write a post, sit back, maybe type a few comments here and there, and wait for the numbers to rise.
Of course, that didn’t happen.
Why did I think that being a lazy potato would help me gain followers? Because it seemed like all the big and popular blogs just wrote one post every few weeks, and they had over 1,000 followers.
But that’s not how it works. You can write awesome content, you could be the most original and unique blogger, but you won’t gain followers if you don’t go find them. No one will visit your corner of the web if you just sit and wait for them to magically appear.
It also won’t happen in one day. But don’t give up because once you start to gain exposure, you’ll realize how amazing and rewarding all your effort is.
#5: Reading is a Waste of Time – The Most Ridiculous Statement Ever
You know that look you get when someone asks what you’re doing, and you say “reading”? To me, that look translates to: “This girl is wasting time. Why is she reading all the time? She could be using this time to do something more productive.”
It’s annoying, because then I get self-conscious and I can’t really enjoy my book anymore because that look is still lingering in my mind and nagging me to get up and go be productive.
But reading isn’t a waste of time.
It can be used to de-stress, to escape, and to learn. You can brush up on history, learn about ancient times through amazing adventures, learn about legal and police procedures through mysteries and thrillers, and even to increase your vocabulary. Most of the ‘big’ words I know, I probably picked up from reading books.
Reading is also a hobby. If I was making something, or cooking/baking, or painting, I don’t think I’d get that look, because those activities seem more productive. But reading is a hobby as well, and should not be considered a waste of time.
So this statement, or thought, is 100% completely ridiculous.
Those are just a few blogging and reading myths that I think are completely not true. There are a few more that I could think of, but I think this post is long enough as it is lol
What are some untrue blogging or reading myths/expectations that you’ve encountered? Do you get that look when you say you’re reading? Am I the only one who doesn’t like assigned reading in Literature? Be honest, have you judged books by their covers?
Eternity Books 