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readings from the east
Growing up, I was definitely slightly biased AGAINST local authors. Considering the focus given to Western authors even by our teachers, this was not so much of a surprise. Even now I have a tendency to pick up novels written by Western authors, though I am a lot more critical about the representation in them. Which is why I love the fact that Roshani Chokshi’s The Star Touched Queen is doing so well with readers and bloggers, and why I love how much people recommend Jenny Han’s books. I haven’t read either author (yet!) but they are both on my TBR and as soon as I am able, I’ll be…
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top ten; books i picked up on a whim
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday category was pretty interesting. I don’t usually buy books ‘on a whim’, if I’m honest. When I buy books, I have a clear idea what I’m heading out to pick up. I usually save up for books, and then buy the books I’ve been wanting to read for a while. But when it comes to the library? Erm, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve gone in for one book and come out with something else entirely. Usually because the book I wanted wasn’t in stock, but sometimes with the book I wanted, and a whole bunch of other books that just seemed interesting. It’s…
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when reading becomes a challenge
I’ve been wondering for a while why I seem to have no interest in reading my books lately. Today, I read ‘Why I Quit My Goodreads Challenge‘ and realised that I haven’t particularly been enjoying reading because of the pressure I’ve unconsciously been giving myself to hit my target. It’s not as if my target has been particularly high to begin with. I had set myself a 20 book target. I had done the same last year, and I had hit the target by the mid-year and increased it to 25. When I hit that, I increased it again to 30. I didn’t hit 30 books, but I did hit…
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top ten; characters to revisit
I’ve been book blogging long enough to have seen Top Ten posts on the various blogs I have subscribed to. I have not been blogging long enough to have participated. Until today. The Broke and the Bookish have compiled a VERY INTERESTING list of prompts for Top Ten Tuesdays. Many times, I find myself pausing and thinking – hey, I could have done this. I have ideas for what I would have written! – but then I never get around to actually writing the thing because procrastination is an old friend of mine. This time, though, this time I had to try. Or – okay, do or do not, there…
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diversity can start with you
I recently read a blog post posing the question “Does Diversity Sell?” to readers. It is a question I have stopped asking myself, largely because I acknowledge the fact that I am biased. I know for a fact that I want diversity to sell, so I am obviously going to say yes, it does. Because I feel like it should, and I want to fight for it. But that is not how the real world works. A small group of people, or one reader, is not going to make a difference. Yes, we are a voice, and it doesn’t mean we give up – we keep speaking up and encouraging…
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blind date with a book
Every time I see photos online of brown paper wrapped books with vague descriptions, I tell myself that if I ever come across a shop that’s selling books in that way, I’m going to pick one up. I honestly thought the likelihood of that happening would be zero. But for the first time ever, I did in fact come across a shelf of these books in a small bookstore in Sydney. Obviously, I stopped and tried to figure out what the books were based on the descriptions. To my amusement, my husband and I both noticed the one book that appealed to me – and he talked me into buying…
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#bookswormsarebadass
Mary over at Books And Cookies on tumblr made a post that I thought was pretty cool and thought provoking. She was asking booklrs about the most badass bookworm things they had done. Some talked about managing to get authors to do book signings, or befriending them. Others talked about making book fandom related craftwork. I put together a shortlist of things that I am proud of, as a bookworm. They might not necessarily be the most “badass” things a bookworm could do, but they definitely qualify as an extreme example of bookworms. Presenting, in no particular order, my list of “badass” bookworm things I have done. Reading my cousins’…
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(mini) blog ahead
The first time I heard about Blog Ahead was last year, just before it started in October. I was intrigued, and wanted to challenge myself, so I participated by adapting a YA Lit Meme to suit my purposes. I surprised myself by completing it. I’m not going to lie, I honestly thought I would give up half-way through the challenge and abandon the meme – but I didn’t. I persevered, I created edits and found quotes that resonated with me, and I didn’t just complete Blog Ahead 2015, I also completed my first ever Meme. Though, admittedly, it took me a long while to make that last edit. I’m lazy…
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new beginnings
The problem with starting a blog, for me, is that I never know how to start it. I’ve been sitting here for a good while just trying to figure out what to write. Do I start with an introductory post? Do I just jump straight in? I posed this question on Twitter and a couple of people answered – with conflicting responses. Helpful, right? But it made me realize that there is no correct way to go about doing this. This is a blog, for me, by me. This is MY blog, my space. I can do whatever I want here. It’s the start of April, and I am currently…