In My Life
You know those weeks when you sit down to reflect but the details seem fuzzy? Today’s one of those times. I know we celebrated my sister’s birthday this week with chocolate fondant which I baked. My driving lessons continued. I also baked giant chocolate chip cookies. Oh and I checked my letterbox countless times for the arrival of The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. It remained woefully absent.
That being said, today marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Weather-wise, the shift in seasons doesn’t make much of difference when you live along the equator. Still, the seasons around the world affect us in terms of fresh produce that’s flown in. Welcoming spring brings us one step closer to fruit harvests that begin towards the end of next month.
Books Read
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The only book I finished reading was The Golem and the Djinni by Helen Wecker. I gave it 4.5 stars and shared my initial thoughts on Goodreads. The audiobook is nearly 20 hours long. Scribd only allows 1.5x maximum listening speed, so that still made for 13 hours.
Besides absorbing myself in that grand audiobook I also started reading The Girl from Everywhere by Helen Weaker. I received it for review, so I won’t start reading a new book until I finish this one. Trouble is, I’m not sure how credible it is in terms the historical and cultural setting. So far I’ve had linguistic gripes with reference to the demography.
On the Blog
Blog Posts
This week I posted an overview of the latest YA releases and my Project 52 photo for the theme Spring.
Book Reviews
I also posted my book review for Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard. Based on other reviews I’ve read, some readers didn’t like the toxic elements of friendship but I liked how true to life this book was. Besides, the intensity lent a fair bit of excitement to the story, which I appreciated.
Around the Blogosphere
Books
- Emily @ Loony Literate noticed a lack of hype for YA contemporary books compared to fantasy or science fiction. She also finds contemporary fiction more difficult to review.
- Amber @ Books Stacks Amber shared her Goodreads shelving system. I always find it fun to see how everyone makes use of them.
- Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts discussed why readers don’t imagine characters naked.
- Shannon @ River City Reading doesn’t keep a list of books she wants to read.
- Amy @ Aya M. Productions weighed her favourite book formats, depending on context.
Genres
- Christina @ Christina Reads YA recommended [YA magical realism] books and thought about what sets them apart from urban fantasy.
Reading
- Bec @ Readers in Wonderland solicited advice on how to listen to audiobooks.
- Lola @ Lola’s Ramblings pondered upon re-reading books.
- Gillian @ Writers of Wrongs considered what it means to be a visual reader.
- Amy @ Ten Penny Dreams — on deciding what to read next.
Blogging
- Cait @ Paper Fury doled out advice on how to increase comments on your book blog.
- Nicole @ Fiction Addiction tried to discern the fine line between copying and being inspired.
- Alex @ Fiery Reads reminded bloggers that it’s okay to take a break.
- Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction grappled with disappearing for a while and not allowing blogging pressure to build.
- Jessica @ Princessica of Books maintained that blog themes matter and should represent the blogger(s).
- Amanda @ Nellie & Co. Laid out 5 important pieces of blogging advice.
- Xan @ Twirling Pages wrote a guide on how to start a blog.
- Jessica @ Bookish Serendipity rounded up 21 resources for book bloggers.
- Harvey @ Bookmarked reflected on balancing audience growth on our book blogs.
- Hawwa @ Hawwa, Etc identified 4 things a blogger has to accept.
Reviewing
- Amanda @ Nellie & Co. Suggested ways to shake up boring book reviews.
- Silvara @ Fantasy of the Silver Dragon wondered what to do with unsolicited review books.
- Emily & Loony Literate discussed, are negative reviews more convincing than positive reviews?.
- Amber @ The Mile Long Bookshelf stopped using the term strong female character in her book reviews.
Social Media
- Rachel @ Bookish Babble noted tips for organising (bookish) social media accounts.
I’m excited for spring because it’s my birthday season (and the season of my favourite flower/plant – Blossom!) however, I’m also dreading it the same as I do every year because of my dreaded nemesis: hayfever. I can’t even open the windows of my house without sneezing and irritating my eyes. It truly is the things we love that hurt us the most.
It sounds as if you had some great baking adventures! Personally, I’m a huge fan of cupcakes, but I make cookies a lot for events because they travel well. (Or, travel well walking. I have a cupcake carrier that would probably work fine if I drove somewhere, but which would not survive walking anywhere.)
I loved The Golem and your picture of it is beautiful.
I keep waiting to see pictures of those giant chocolate chip cookies. ;) Your picture of “The Golem and the Djinni” is one of my favorites! I hope The Well of Ascension arrives soon.