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.

Game of Thrones Season 7 Survival Guide

We’re officially t minus 10 days away from the season seven premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones on July 16th, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic!  It’s been 375 days since the final episode of season six aired, which is an atrocity in and of itself, leading to widespread withdrawal among viewers.  Don’t even get me started on the unfortunate fact that there are only two abbreviated seasons remaining.

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.”

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?

Discussion: Literature in the American School System

According to a variety of sources and international reports, American students are falling increasingly behind their international counterpoints with respect to education in the fields of math, science, and reading/writing (rhetoric).  Why is there such a disparity between children growing up in different countries?  Can this be attributed to each nation’s implemented school system?  Or even the modern generation’s increasingly prevalent fascination with gleaning a large amount of information in the shortest allotment of time?

Discussion: The “Perfect” Reading Weather

There are days when we open our blinds, groan, and collapse back into a pile of blankets and pillows and wish we had never woken up (these usually follow the finishing of an amazing night where you stayed up till 3 a.m. reading a fantabulous book). But, there are also absolutely enchanting days that spellbind you into wanting nothing more than to curl into your favorite chair and get lost between the pages of a novel.

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.

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?

Discussion: Reading YA as an Adult

It’s probably happened to most of us before: getting weird looks when you say you read YA when you’re over a certain age and people think you should be moving on and reading „real“ books. Like Classics. Because we all know a book only counts as a book if it’s at least 70 years old or has won numerous awards. Sarcasm off.