In My Life
Back Home
After five weeks spent in Europe, I finally/sadly/happily returned home. As you can see, there’re so many mixed feelings right there. For one, I was happy to see my family and it’s so good to sleep in my own bed again. Didn’t welcome the heat so much though. I miss the colder weather. It’s easier to pile on the clothes to keep warm than to keep cool in hot and humid weather.
Needless to say, I’ll miss my time in Europe. The sights were so many to behold and the change of pace did me a lot of good. At the same time, I did feel ready to return home. I had seen and done so much, I knew that my Fernweh had been cured for now.
Book Haul
My pre-orders of Hello? by Liza Wiemer and The Distance From Me to You by Marina Gessner arrived in the mail this week. During my last night in Switzerland I bought Silber: Das dritte Buch der Träume by Kerstin Gier with my left-over change. Saved me 40% compared to ordering from the Book Depository. And of course I bought Winter by Marissa Meyer as soon as it arrived at our local bookstore yesterday.
On the Blog
Blog Posts
This week I launched, Hot off the Press to keep track of weekly YA releases. There’s also colourful cheer on the blog with this week’s Mise-en-scène theme, Rainbow.
Book Review
In anticipation of Winter, I posted my book review of Fairest by Marissa Meyer. It was such a complex tale told from the perspective of Queen Levana. I know some readers were uncomfortable with how twisted a character she is but I thought the focus on a villain was very well done.
Around the Blogosphere
Books
- Inge @ Bookshelf Reflections took her wanderlust to her favourite fictional worlds.
- Ana @ Read Me Away grappled with genre classifications of dystopia and science fiction.
- Cait guest blogged at Chasing Fairytales weighing how unique characters’ names should be.
- Amanda @ Nellie and Co. discussed whether fiction needs to be based on reality.
- Alexandra @ Twirling Pages squealed about the cover release of The Raven King.
- Beck @ Pretty Deadly Reviews shared her five favourite tropes.
Diversity
- Shannelle @ Art of Escapism grieved over misrepresentation of the Chinese culture in books.
- Sunny @ A Sunny Spot spoke up about feminism.
- Crini @ All About Books searched for main characters of colour in YA books.
Readers’ Lives
- Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts typified 13 types of readers you’ll encounter during commutes.
- Emily @ For the Bookish wonders, what made you a bookworm?
- Tessa @ Crazy for YA lamented the woes and rewards of being a slow readers.
- Aimee @ The Social Potato is curious, do you support authors whose books you didn’t like?
- Stephanie @ These Paper Hearts talked about attitudes towards books before reading them.
- Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity identified two types of reading slumps.
- Taylor @ Charming Reads gave tips on balancing reading and college.
- Jenna @ Happy Indulgence made a case for reading contemporaries.
- Nema @ Musing by Moonlight maintains that loving books is not a competition.
- Nordic @ Writing About Books detailed how to keep track of books and heir source.
Blogging
- Trish @ Between My Lines asked, Questions at the end of blog posts? Yay or Nay?
- Carrie @ Once Upon a Dream Books took on blogger midlife crisis, declaring it a time for change.
- Jessica @ Bookish Serendipity is all for bloggers posting book hauls.
- Aentee @ Read at Midnight reminisced about posts she loved reading before she became a blogger.
- Crini @ All About Books explained how to colour-code blog posts in the editorial calendar.
- Liza @ Reading with ABC verbalized unwritten rules of book blogging.
- Lili @ Lili’s Reflection wants to know who you share your blog with.
- Cait @ Paper Fury kept it real and shared some (embarrassing) mistakes she’s made.
Reviewing
- Vlora @ Reviews and Cake outlined some reasons she doesn’t review ARCs.
- Jillian @ Jillian’s Books took it a step further and no longer cares about ARCs.
- Ranu guest blogged on Chasing Faerytales and derided bookish snobbery going too far.
- Tracy @ Cornerfolds wondered how early is too early to post reviews for upcoming releases?
Miscellaneous
- Rinn @ Rinn Reads kicked off Sci-Fi Month 2015.
- Jessica @ Bookish Serendipity broke down the 7 stages of book anticipation.
- Alexandra @ Twirling Pages demonstrated how she takes book photos.
- Laura @ Scribbles and Wanderlust considered book buying habits.
I absolutely ADORE these posts! This is such a great wrap up! And I simply love all the posts you featured from all around the blogosphere. I definitely recognised more than a few blog posts you mentioned!
Loved it! 💕
Josephine recently posted Book Cover Guessing Challenge | TAG
Can we trade? I’d happily soak up warmer weather instead of being this cold :( But yay for a fun trip to Europe, and yay for a great book haul!
Alexa S. recently posted 3 Questions for Lauren Smith (+ Giveaway)
You miss the colder weather??? Can we please switch places? Because I’m ready for summer and humidity again, haha. I’ll be looking forward to your “Hot off the Press” posts, since I haven’t been keeping up with new books recently. And as always, great job with the link round-up! :)
Sophie recently posted Review: True Stories, Well Told by Lee Gutkind & Hattie Fletcher
I couldn’t agree more on cold vs. hot weather. I cannot deal with hot and humid and it IS so much easier to dress in more layers than to grow comfortable with living in a sauna. I’m glad you enjoyed Fairest so much. I still haven’t got around to reading the Lunar chronicles, but they’re definitely on my to-read list!
Vlora recently posted NaNoWriMo Week 1
Thanks for the mention Cait! I haven’t been to Europe in a while, but I remember my trip very fondly. I read Hello? last week and it was amazingly good, I hope you love it :)
Liza @ Reading with ABC recently posted Stacking the Shelves #144
AHH What an EXCELLENT round up!! *clicks wildly on 9839 posts* Thanks for putting this all together. ;) (And also sharing some of my posts! SQUEE.) AND WINTER ADJFKALSD LUCKY YOU. It doesn’t come out in Australia until the 12th, but then I am definitely getting my clammy paws on it. :’)
Cait @ Paper Fury recently posted (Mortally Embarrassing) Mistakes From A Book Blogger