Updates + Quarantine Reading List

I’m currently wrapping up my senior year of college under…slightly different circumstances than I was originally anticipating. COVID-19 threw a bit of a monkey-wrench in my spring semester plans, resulting in 50% of the semester being held online and the indefinite postponement of graduation. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the semester wrapping up within the next two weeks and receiving my degree at the end of May.

In other news, I’ve recently committed to attend medical school in the fall! I’m ecstatic to continue my education in a field that I’m so passionate about, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store! I’m also excited to move to an entirely new state and city, explore a new location, and meet my future classmates. I’m hoping to document my medical school journey by posting regular updates (both bookish and non-bookish) on my blog, as well as filming the occasional vlog for my booktube channel.

Discussion: How has college impacted my reading?

Back to school is one of my favorite times of the year: new stationary + the onset of fall + pumpkin spice flavored everything, what could be better?  My college move-in date is right around the corner.  Tomorrow, to be exact.  And I’m doing anything and everything within my power to procrastinate packing like the responsible human being that I am.  In an attempt to further delay packing, what better time to share my experiences with reading and blogging throughout my freshman year of college?

DNFing Books: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I’m impressively stubborn, sometimes to a fault, yet I prefer to prioritize my mental sanity above forcing myself to read a book from start to finish that blatantly isn’t working for me.  While I’m by no means a liberal DNF-er, I average approximately 1-2 books per year that I permanently set aside without completing them.  When I first started blogging, my brain absolutely refused to accept the concept of not reading a novel in its entirety.  Needless to say, I had several excruciatingly painful reads in which I miserably limped along until the very last page and then promptly dove headfirst into a reading slump.  As my TBR pile started to grow exponentially, I gradually recognized that I would not be struck dead by a bolt of lightning if I elected to set a book aside in favor for a higher priority or more promising read.  In hindsight, this was one of my most important realizations with respect to my growth as a reader.

Reading 101: Book Buying on a Budget

I readily admit that I have a problem – I’m absolutely obsessed with buying books (nevermind the actually reading them part that might be implied by that statement).  Unfortunately, spending absurd sums of money that I don’t possess doesn’t mesh well with my current college student and prospective medical school student status.  Therefore, I’ve become creative with respect to maximizing my steady stream of bookish purchases while simultaneously having enough money to purchase food, pay for laundry, and all of those other unimportant things.

Winter Wonderland Book Tag

A huge thank you to Kathy over at the Novelty of Life for nominating me for the Winter Wonderland Book Tag!

Snow is my favorite reading weather, and I can never resist curling up with a good book.  Considering a snowstorm has rendered me stuck inside by the fireplace for the majority of the day, I couldn’t think of a better time to complete this tag!

2016 Recap & 2017 Resolutions

I met my Reading Challenge of 50 books throughout 2016 by reading…exactly 50 books!  There were a few ups and downs along the way, including some new favorites and a handful of disappointments.  I started college a few months ago which has been significantly cutting into my reading time, but I’m hoping that this will improve over the next several months!

All Hallows’ Read

With Halloween right around the corner, I’m extremely excited to announce a new project that I’ve been working on with Kathy over at The Novelty of Life!

For several months, Kathy and I have been wracking our brains for a creative way to incorporate the holidays into our blogging – we wanted to see more festive posts, holiday-themed book recommendations, challenges, and read-a-thons, etc.  Noticing the relative lack of these holiday-related components, particularly in the book blogging community, we concocted a solution that quickly adopted the name “Festive Reads.”

Blogging 101: ARC Basics

One of the most common areas of confusion for newer bloggers is ARCs – what they are, how to acquire them, and how to interact with authors and publishers.  While I am by no means an expert on ARCs and the requesting process, I’ve received a decent number of them over the years (and am currently sorting through a rather hefty pile of them).  Therefore, I’ve compiled a few tips and tricks regarding how to request ARCs and interact professionally with publishers.

Blogging 101: Basic HTML

Before I started teaching myself how to code, the word “HTML” sent me into a bit of a panic, primarily because I never completely understood it.  I couldn’t wrap my head around how garbled nonsense translated into beautifully designed web pages, let alone how I would go about replicating lines and lines of code.  When I began researching HTML to learn more, the sheer volume of information I was uncovering was overwhelming to say the least.  There were thousands of Google search results, and seemingly more variations and methods to go about writing HTML codes.  If you take away one point from this post, let it be this: do not Google HTML, for your own sanity.

Now that I’ve had some time to learn the ropes and experiment with HTML both here on Brewing Up Books as well as on several other platforms, I decided to compile a list and explanations of my most frequently used HTML codes.

Reading 101: How to Survive a Trip to the Bookstore

I am entirely unembarrassed to admit that I have a book buying obsession, and it’s gotten a bit out of hand recently.  Book buying bans are essentially out of the question, so how do I go about restricting the number of books I’m purchasing during my countless trips to the bookstore?  Stretching every last dollar so that I’m getting the greatest possible number of books for the smallest sum of money?  Prioritizing which books I want to purchase immediately versus which can wait a few months?  I’ve amassed a few tips and tricks that have worked well for me in the past with the hopes of helping a few fellow bookworms.

Discussion: Annual Reading Goals – the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

Whether you’re a member of Goodreads, or other book-related websites and organizations, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve been asked or have come across various features that allow you to set reading goals each year.  These goals can vary significantly,  ranging from the highly specific “I want to read __ books in 2016” to something as general as “I want to read more historical fiction.”

But these goals, do they do more harm than good?  Instead of prompting us to read with increasing frequency, do they actually discourage us from the pastime?

Blogging 101: Cobloggers

Are you thinking of inviting another blogger to join your site?  Are you not sure where to start or what you should be looking for?  Are you concerned about some of the issues that can arise from having multiple authors contributing to the same blog?

Here at Brewing Up Books, we’ve always had at least two full-time bloggers, as well as several highly overlooked part-time bloggers, such as our humor writer, Julia.  We’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way regarding finding cobloggers, establishing reasonable expectations for both yourself and your fellow cobloggers, and interacting with individuals who are 1,000+ miles away.

Discussion: How I Assign Ratings

Here at Brewing Up Books, we use a five cauldron system to rate the books, movies, and TV shows that we discuss from week to week.  As an extremely indecisive person, I often struggle with determining a numerical rating for each work that I review, and half cauldrons do nothing to improve matters.  After all, what distinguishes a book that receives 3 cauldrons from one that receives 3.5?  Are they really all that different?

An Overdue Explanation and an Apology

I’ve written and rewritten this post so many times over the past several hours, and I eventually just had to wave the white flag of surrender and commit to this rendition of it.  So please bear with me.

Reading 101: How to Survive a Read-A-Thon

If you’re an avid reader, chances are that you’ve participated in a Read-A-Thon or two (or twenty-seven).  I’ve participated in quite a few myself, and I’ve started compiling some tips and tricks that will come in handy whether you’ve never participated in a read-a-thon before or you’re practically a pro.

Blogger Database

A few months ago, we mentioned that we were starting a blogger database to keep track of a few of our favorite blogs.  As promised, we are finally sharing it with all of you!

Seasons Greadings Tag

We were nominated for the Seasons Greadings Tag by the amazing Kate over at Crazy Antics Reviews!

2016 Reading Challenges

In order to start 2016 off with a bang, we decided to put ourselves to the test and sign up for a few year-long reading challenges.  After all, how else would we be kicking off the new year?

2015 Wrap-Up

2015 was an extremely successful year, for both of us, and it marked the one year anniversary for Brewing Up Books.  We decided to compile a brief post to serve as our year in review, in celebration of many more to come!

Most Anticipated Reads of 2016

As 2015 draws to a close, we’re both very excited about some of the new releases that will be appearing on shelves throughout 2016.  These are a few of our top picks for the upcoming year.