Retrospect #5: February 2nd

The first day of Chinese New Year was on Friday. For those who don’t read Chinese, in Mandarin the above characters are pronounced gōng xǐ fā cái and thus I wish you prosperity for the coming year! Since nobody in my family is Chinese, we don’t actually celebrate it. We just take time off since it means holidays for everyone. But I do have a lot of friends who do, so when they invite me, I do join in the festivities. Besides, who could resist those goodies? Pineapple tarts definitely are my favourites.

I wish I had photos to share but I didn’t take any of the decorations on the streets this year, and the pretty ones I took last year of all the red lanterns are very well hidden on my hard disk. I have no idea where I filed them. A pity, really. Maybe when I find them, I’ll share a few.

REVIEWS

• [29 Jan] The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston ★★★½

BLOG POSTS

• [27 Jan] When Series on my Shelf are Mismatched
• [29 Jan] The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston ★★★½
• [30 Jan] Book Cover Quotes and Author Endorsements
• [2 Feb] Retrospect #5: February 2nd

BLOGGERS & BLOGGING

• Sandra @ Tea Between Books talks about her biggest blogging fear.
• Judith @ Paper Riot thinks she is bad at commenting and asks for commenting tips.
• Kelly @ Effortlessly Reading asks how anyone finds time to blog.
• Trish @ Between My Lines explains why she does not follow blogs via email subscriptions. She’s pretty much covered all the bases on why I’ve not made an effort to subscribe to any blogs via email either.

BOOKS

• Ginger @ GReads! wants to know where all the 20-somethings in fiction are. She even has a shelf on Goodreads, so you can check it out and let her know of other books not on it yet.
• Jessi @ Novel Heartbeat worries that hype surrounding certain books sets her up for disappointment when she reads them. I can definitely identify but I think I’m quite accomplished at avoiding it. See, I still haven’t read Allegiant and have managed to stay in the dark about what to expect. I do plan to read it before the Divergent movie comes out. Speaking of which, I’ve avoided all trailers and movie posters too. Any kind of news, really. Because I loved the first two books too much to let anyone or anything interfere with my enjoyment of the series.
• Lisa @ Read. Breathe. Relax. is curious if you have tried ebook subscription services. If you don’t have access to Overdrive via your library or the selection doesn’t include books you’re interested in, maybe subscription services are the way to go. For me, I’m thankful my library regularly adds plenty of latest releases for both fiction and non-fiction.
• Rachel @ As Told By Rachel offers her comparison between the Nook and Kindle. If you’re in the market for e-readers, she can probably give more insight since she’s used a Barnes and Noble Nook Color, a 3rd generation Amazon Kindle, and an Amazon Kindle Fire. Just to throw in my two cents, I love my Kindle Paperwhite!
• Kelsey @ Verbosity Book Reviews thinks that a degree of realism matters not just in Contemporary but in other genres too. After all, what else would compel you to suspend your disbelief?

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Hannah @ So Obsessed With has issues with personal book recommendations.

RATING & REVIEWING

• Ashley @ Nose Graze reminds bloggers to review what you want to review. There’s no point forcing yourself to review wat you think others might like but you don’t like. You will come to resent blogging. Ditto.
• Miranda @ Tempest Books discusses when to read and review ARCs. I’d say ideally before the release because otherwise you might as well have bought the book but not too soon because otherwise people might forget about it. I think maybe a week or two before release is good time. What about you?
• Kelley @ Another Novel Read set up a poll to see where everyone posts their book reviews. Interesting results. I thought more people would be posting on Amazon but turns out that is not the case. Yay to Goodreads though! My go-to source for everything about books.
• Rachel @ Parajunkee weighs the pros and cons of a rating system.

READING

• Kaitlyn @ Bookish Comforts reread Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, prompting her to point out the humour the J.K. Rowling so cleverly weaved into the book. It’s not all about the dark side, as the movies have us believe, Kaitlyn says. She has inspired me to embark on my own rereading journey of Harry Potter, so I reserved a copy from my library.
• Jade @ Bits Bobs challenged herself to picking out one book and one author, if she could only pick on each for the rest of her life. Would you be able to do that? I know I couldn’t.
• Christine @ Oh, Chrys! tells us about the kind of prose she loves.
• Ana @ Read Me Away considers if opinions on a current book are influenced by the book read prior to it. In other words, she considers the effects of what she termed book hangovers.
• Nikki @ The Paper Sea gives authors second chances. If she doesn’t like a book she’s read, she is open to picking up another but it better be good because she doesn’t give third chances. Gotta agree with her but even second chances are hard for me.
• Sophia @ Loving Lit wonders how you pick out which books to read.
• Sophie @ Paper Breathers introduces us to the omnireader. Looking at Laura E. Kelly’s infographic of Which Book Reader Species Are You?, I conclude that I’m a library loving travelling omnireader.

Had nobody wondered whether Fate and Coincidence had both been given a helping hand?

Who here celebrates Chinese New Year or has been invited to join friends who do? What’s your favourite part about this holiday season?