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;13 literary characters that would be fun to dress up as for Halloween
It’s Halloween! This might have been a better post for earlier in the month, or use it as ideas for next year. But I figured, why not post it anyway! I used to go trick-or-treating as a kid, even though it’s not a huge thing in Singapore. Luckily for us though, we were a whole bunch of relatives living close to one another, and my uncle celebrates his birthday on Halloween, and he loved having everyone end the celebration at his place with a small party. It also happens to be my mother-in-law’s birthday, so I’m dressing up my daughter as Boo from Monsters’ Inc and we’re going to take…
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handle with care; the austen edition
There are some Austen novels I haven’t seen adaptations of, or even straight to screen adaptations, because for some reason, the story does not catch me. And then there are some, I might not have read or watched, or know much about that I read crossover fanfiction for. Yes, I do read Austen fanfiction. Mostly centered on Mary Bennet, or based on the wesberies adaptations I’ve watched. We have established I am a nerd, yes? Emma is a fun story, in so far as I know it. I haven’t read the source material, but I have enjoyed Clueless tremendously and Emma Approved was also fun. (And apparently it’s coming back…
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;how to make a TBR jar ft. I don’t remember the books I own
My TBR list is long and unmanageable and ever-growing. I know this is a problem most of us bookworms face, and no, I am not going to teach you how to manage your TBR. Because I don’t know how. (If someone can teach me, that’d be great. Thanks.) Instead, I’ve been recently thinking about making TBR jars. But the thing is, I don’t remember half my TBR list, and I definitely don’t remember the titles of the books I own off-hand. So you get something like this instead. In my last Open Pages box, I added in a itty-bitty little TBR jar. Found the jars at the local dollar shop…
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;series i haven’t finished (and don’t know why)
Hi, hello, and welcome to today’s edition of “Ara, What Are You Doing With Your Life And All Those Books.” Today, we will be talking about the book series I own and adore, and for some strange unquantifiable reason, have yet to complete! No, I’m serious. I don’t even know why I haven’t finished these series yet. I enjoy them, I want to finish them, I just haven’t yet? Someone help me? Part of me thinks that I haven’t finished these series’ yet because if I do, then that means they are actually over… Let us start with one that everyone has read and loved, and I scoured for the…
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instant to-read; the austen edition
I’ve read maybe two or three books that can be classified as reimaginings of Austen novels. I’ve watched many more. And guess what? I’m a nerd who loves Jane Austen retellings! This comes as a big surprise to absolutely nobody ever. There are some really well-done webseries based on Austen’s works. Like, would 10/10 recommend to everybody. I mean, could they be more diverse? Sure! But they were faithful and well-acted adaptations, and I stan. I can’t say I’ve ever come across a book re-telling of Northanger Abbey – and I can’t say I’ve ever read the source material – but there have been two webseries based on it that…
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;my life in books
This is not a tag. I think there is a tag going around, or was, that is similar? Maybe I imagined it, but this is not a tag. Mostly because I fall behind on tags a lot, so I’m not going to pass this on to anyone to do it, but hey, if it gives anyone any blog post ideas? Have fun, because I certainly am! Basically, today’s post is me, breaking down my life into sections, and associating books or series with those sections of my life. It’s definitely making me think really hard about what I used to read, and how much my taste has changed, or not,…
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;my daughter the bookworm
This past month has been A Lot in an emotional rollercoaster sort of way. Even from a little bit before that, I found myself falling behind on my store, my writing, my reading – heck, even watching TV and movies! The one thing I have somehow managed to keep from abandoning or taking a break from? Has been this blog. So even if, admittedly, some of my posts have been lacking, or more worryingly, I have fallen behind on reading and commenting on other blogs, I feel quite proud of the fact that I have still been blogging. Today, I will be talking – gushing, even – about my daughter.…
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;my go-to feel good movies
This month has been A Lot. I have been lax on my social media accounts – both personal and shop accounts – because it’s just been emotional upheaval after emotional upheaval and I’ve been struggling to keep myself from going under. I’m managing, somehow, to keep myself afloat. Which is why I thought it was the perfect time to talk about my favourite movies to watch every time I want to see something that makes me happy. I went through a period where I was watching one of these movies every week, if not every other day. I make a lot of lists, don’t I? In no particular order: The…
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handle with care; the shakespeare edition
As much as I enjoy Shakespeare, I have to admit to having seen and heard and read aspects of it that make me shake my head and sigh in disappointment. Shakespeare was a product of his times, and as much as I acknowledge that he was progressive for his time, sometimes that means when you play it straight, it’s regressive for our time. Does that make sense? There are adaptations I’ve seen that could have been a touch better if they had adapted the parts that are now problematic to give more agency to other characters, or to subvert what is in the actual play. Shakespeare would not mind, I’m…
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;the things about new adult
Did you know I’ve not been able to find books that would fall under the New Adult classification in bookstores near me? I mean, until about a year ago, I used to think that New Adult books just weren’t there. Now I’ve realised the stories I am writing could probably be more accurately classified as New Adult rather than Young Adult, though there are overlaps. If you look at my bookshelves, despite the fact that I am closer to 30 than 20, most of my books fall under the Young Adult bracket. The stories are diverse and empathic and the characters are well-rounded and three-dimensional, and you can find something…