NaBloPoMo 2016! How the Hell...

Last November was my first time participating in NaBloPoMo. I think I did pretty good, only missing one day of posting for the whole month (if you don't count the other days I missed, but did "make up" posts are). It really made me think of other things to post about, instead of only really posting book reviews.Here are some of my favorites:

How Twilight Zone is My Life 

If I Die Before Reading All These Books

I Give Money to Panhandlers

I've decided to challenge myself again. Here are the two bitmoji I think will represent the month, in this order.

 

Here is a list of possible prompts I might use to fill in for posts when I don’t know what else to write about. I found it several months ago and intended to do the 52 week challenge in earnest but never actually joined up. Here’s the original source post.  

Author Requests: Reviews on Demand (Blogiversary Musings)

Technically, I’ve been blogging since 2008, but there were a few years of starts and stops. But not only is October the month of my first blog post but it’s also my favorite month, so there you go. Sometimes arbitrary isn’t so arbitrary. Of course, usually it is.

Anyhooo… For the rest of October I'm posting about some stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past year as a reader and as a blogger. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts if you want.

Author Requests: Reviews on Demand

I’ve read several books over the past year that were for “requested reviews.” For the most part, it worked out fine and I enjoyed the book and my subsequent interactions with the authors. Notable in these precious people experiences have been Terry Maggert (@TerryMaggert) and Rin Oliver (@koliver_writes). And I loved Santa Muerta by Lucina Stona. Really, the problem hasn’t been the books (though there are some exceptions to that, of course) the problem has been feeling like I HAVE to read the damn thing. And then feeling obligated to like it or say nice things about it and or to write anything at all. AND THEN! An author told me that my thoughts about a book were wrong, which honestly kinda pissed me off since she asked me to read the stupid thing in the first place and I didn’t even like it that much. 

Blogging is something I do just for fun and any element of AND NOW YOU MUST DO THIS annoys me, which sets up a bad vibe for the book from the jump. So, I’ve been thinking of just refusing books from now on. So what’s the problem with that, right? Well, all the books I’ve read by request are either books by underrepresented groups or are small press/ self pubbed. These are stories that need to be amplified because they might not be mainstream candy. I’m still working this out in my head, but I might set up some boundaries for myself so that I can at least feel differently about this whole experience.

I am looking forward to the last request I have agreed to, though. 

Do you have a way to keep “jobs” fun and interesting? Do you feel like you have to be different in your reviews that authors asked you to do?

Related Posts:

  

Dewey's Readathon Fall 2016 - The Ready, The Set, and The Currently Reading

It’s Dewey’s time again!! Last year was my first one and I’m excited to do it again!!

This post is where I'll post updates throughout the day, assuming that the Blogger app on my phone doesn't keep shutting down.

I've decided that rather than really narrowing down my TBR for the day, I'm just going to have a pool of books to choose from based on my library books, my old eARCs, by clear a shelf books, and four new audiobooks.

I’m Not Worried about Your Kool Aid (Blogiversary Musings)

Technically, I’ve been blogging since 2008, but there were a few years of starts and stops. But not only is October the month of my first blog post but it’s also my favorite month, so there you go. Sometimes arbitrary isn’t so arbitrary. Of course, usually it is.

Anyhooo… For the rest of my blogiversary month, I’m posting about some stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past year. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts if you want.

I’m Not Worried about Your Kool Aid:

You know what it means to be up in someone’s Kool Aid? It means you are minding their business, worried about what flavor they are drinking instead of paying attention to your own stuff. Well, there are a LOT of book bloggers on the internet and some of them do this for a living or at least for fame and free books. They post almost every day. They run giveaways and blog tours and all kinds of stuff. I have some goals but they are loose and just to keep me motivated and meeting people. I try not to get caught up in the Book Blogger Business, but chill out over here with my little blog and books and just do my own thing. (Did you know that in Old English, the connotation for the word “business” was anxiety. I’m not sure that that is no longer the case. No Thanks.)

Link: Goals I set for myself this year

Have your blog goals changed over time?

How do you decide on your blog goals?

Related Posts:

  

Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween

It's that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, the air is getting cooler and the nights are getting spookier. Yes, it's time for tricks and treats, goblins and ghouls, chills and thrills and huge amounts of sugary sweets. But at the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog it's also time for the 5th annual Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Giveaway. Join Laughing Vixen Lounge and our bewitching co-hosts The Kids Did It, The Mommy Island, Herding Cats and Burning Soup, The Hopping Bloggers, Mama Smith's Reviews and Women and Their Pretties for a spooktacular Halloween event.

Enter to win a $250 Prize Pack filled with goodies from 10 wickedly fabulous shops. All shops are offering Gift Cards or your choice of item(s) so there will be something for everyone. Many of the shops have items perfect for any book lover along with lots of unique, handcrafted and custom designs to choose from.

Visit the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog daily during the giveaway for the Halloween Movie Marathon. Test your movie knowledge with the Guess the Movie Game. Then try to solve the Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt, if you dare! Each event will get you daily entries in the giveaway plus a special giveaway for the Scavenger Hunt. Find full details for these events HERE.

And now a break from me, Kenya: You want to know my favorite scary movie? Demons. It's actually not my favorite but it's the first movie that ever gave me nightmares. I must have seen it when I was about 6 or 7 and had recurring nightmares for about 15 years. I didn't find out what it was called until I was in my 20s. Looking at the special effects now I can see how ridiculous it all was... I mean look at the florescent eyes!! But I will never get those hours of sleep back!! (The second was The Night of the Living Dead.) Leave me a comment below with your favorite!! 

 

Now, back to the Giveaway info!

You can start by entering the Rafflecopter widget below. To experience all the games, movies, shop features, giveaway info and all around awesome fun make sure to stop by the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog HERE. 

The giveaway runs October 18th - November 1st and is open worldwide to anyone 18+. 1 winner will win the Prize Pack and 1 winner will win the Scavenger Hunt Prize Pack. Laughing Vixen Lounge is responsible for all giveaway details. Click HERE for full details.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Who Tells Whose Story? #WNDB (Blogiversary Musings)

Technically, I’ve been blogging since 2008, but there were a few years of starts and stops. But not only is October the month of my first blog post but it’s also my favorite month, so there you go. Sometimes arbitrary isn’t so arbitrary. Of course, usually it is.

Anyhooo… For the rest of my blogiversary month, I’m posting about some stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past year. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts if you want.

who tells whose story?

I’ve written about this a couple of time. There are some books that are clearly #WNDB books. Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older and The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds, for example: racially diverse characters, POC authors, story lines set in diverse places with stories blending the rich cultural aspects of real people. Or The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle: gay author, a wonderful portrayal of gay main character that doesn’t feel contrived or stupid coming of age in a real- feeling world.

And look at these pictures? Am I crazy or are authors just more attractive than other people!

But what about stories of diverse characters in bland otherwise colorless worlds? Or written by non-marginalized (i.e., white, cis, male) authors. These can be great stories, too. I’m currently reading a Japanese story written by a white author that I’m really enjoying (The Monster on the Road is Me by J.P. Romney), or think about Soundless by Richelle Mead or The Girl with the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson. I use these as examples because they are great books. I think the decision is easier if the authors are assholes about their subject matter. But these books show detail and consideration only achieved by research and experience. But do they count as diverse? They certainly aren't #ownvoice books.

And what about “diverse” authors that write white characters like Danielle Paige, who wrote the excellent Dorothy Must Die series? ... is that half a #WNDB sticker? ::sigh: Comment below on this because I love to hear other people’s thoughts on this. Here are a couple of my other related posts.

Link: What Makes a Diverse Book 

Link: My Diverse (but not too diverse?) Little Free Library  

Related Posts:

  

All pictures obtained from Google Search. I don't own anything!

Book Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

This book was checked out from my local neighborhood library. I’ve never read any other stuff by this authors, though I know she’s all the shit in some circles.

The Goodreads Bit:

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

What I had to Say about it:

This one gets a strong 3 stars or a wobbly 4 stars. 

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Read Because My Book Club Said To

Top Ten Tuesday - October 11:  All About Books You Read Because of Recommendation -- Ten Books I've Read Because Of Another  Blogger (Or Book Person) or Ten Books I Read On Recommendation From People Outside Of This Community or you could talk about recommendations of books you read from other sources -- a magazine, a podcast, a "because you read this" algorithm.

So you know I rarely just follow the prompt because 1. I’m noncompliant, and 2. I’m always completely overwhelmed by the idea of compliance. I bet those two things are related… anyhooo! I’m doing… :::drumroll::

Ten Books I Read Only Because a Book Club Made Me Do I

Turns out, I didn’t read all of these, because sometimes people in book clubs pick books that are awful. Really, truly awful… but if I only talked about books I loved, that would make a boring list, now wouldn’t it?

Here’sthe post where I make a case for having more than one book club. Please note, I’ve really only been going to the one with my friends. I have every intention of jumping back in with the Book Theives, but my other activities (theatre, voice lessons, tap class!) have really been interfering with my people time. Without further Ado!

Book Review: And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich (Horror-tober)

I'm always a fan of the horror genre but this month is October, so it's a special treat to kind of focus on it this month. To the extent that my attention span allows, a'course. I picked this book up purely based on the chilling title and the spookily- amazing cover porn.

The Goodreads official summary:

When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt's home, it's immediately clear that the "blood manor" is cursed. The creaking of the house and the stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets, too--the questions that Silla can't ignore: Who is the beautiful boy that's appeared from the woods? Who is the man that her little sister sees, but no one else? And why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer?

Filled with just as many twists and turns as The Dead House, and with achingly beautiful, chilling language that delivers haunting scenes, AND THE TREES CREPT IN is the perfect follow-up novel for master horror writer Dawn Kurtagich.

What I Had to Say About It:

Ok, yall. First this book is kind of fucked up.

Book Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (Horror-tober)

If I could stick with a theme for a whole month it would definitely be Spooky October or something. Horror-tober! And this book would fit right in. But let’s not get carried away. You know as well as I do I will forget any plan to focus on scary/ horror books this month. My attention span just isn’t that long. But, here’s a review anyway!

The Goodreads summary:

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

What I Had to Say About it:

September Recap, ft. my Blooming Boobs!

What the hell did I do all month, you ask!! Don’t even go there!

If you look back at my outbox post on October 12, you will see that I had read 3 books and was working on Rocky Horror all month. Here’s some updated pictures from the show/ rehearsal! That’s me with the #BloomingBoobs. (more pics after the jump)