I'M IN A SLUMP. - Discussion.

Hello!

Today, I thought I would do a little post on the good old slump. It's Monday, it's sunny outside, and I'm meant to be getting ready to go to work. BUT I thought I'd blog for you all instead!

So, good old slumps. Be it reading, filming, movies, gaming, shopping or whatever little hobby you have. A slump, is still a slump. Although I've posted before about reading slumps and some tips, I still find myself stuck in a slump. I'm not sure how it's happened (well, that's not strictly true), but I just dont feel like reading right now, which is a pain when I'm in the middle of x amount of books. No doubt I'll either DNF the reads and start with a clean slate, or pick them up and continue without enjoying them, but, we'll just have to wait and see..


So, how does a slump happen?

Well for me, it just so happens to be because I read a book quite quickly. Last week. Yes, you read that correctly. I managed to read a book quicker than anticipated, and I got all giddy and excited and now I'm sat here wondering what I'm doing wrong with my reading life. Who in their right mind actually finishes a book quickly, resulting in them slumping? Apparently me. Fantastic.

Slumps tend to happen when you go from having all the time in the world to suddenly being busy. At the time of me reading that book in 24 hours last week, I'd had meetings/appointments and then had work a few hours later, and it made more sense to wait around a coffee shop near work rather than go home to just turn around and come back out again for work. So that freed up a lot of my time on that day, and I flew through a good proportion of the book. Due to being so highly invested in the book, I picked it up the next morning and spent an hour finishing it off, collecting my thoughts and posting a blog post for it. I havent touched a book since,

Personally, I believe that slumps come out of over-enjoying or over-indulging on something. For example, I over-indulged on reading that book, something which would have normally taken possibly a week to read, was read in 24 hours. Since that over-indulging, I have yet to enjoy anything I picked up, regardless of it's size or whether it appealed to me at all. For example, I've since tried to pick up two books I really wanted to read, and I've read the first chapter of each and not picked them up since!

What are you going to do about it?

 Well, that's just it, I dont know. I'm currently focusing more on work and writing at the moment, but I don't just want to push reading to one side. I want to be able to read something before I go away (in two weeks), or at least make more progress in my current reading. I really dont want to be in a slump whilst on holiday, as alongside my flight I have extra travelling, meaning extra reading time which I wont want to waste!

My probable plan of action is as follows: try and read more of my current reads and finish at least one before starting anything else (or going on holiday - whichever comes first), make more time for myself to appreciate the books I'm reading right now and not just starting books left right and centre, and also to take a step back from my reading. Yes, this contradicts the other steps, but ultimately, if I feel like something is becoming "too much", it probably is, and I need to learn to take a step back if that happens to avoid any further slumps.


Do you have any tips for reading slumps? Let me know in the comments how you cope with slumps and maybe we can have a chat!

Being Ruthless

If there's one thing I've learnt so far in 2016, it's that life is too short. Far too short. In the midst of family issues, and celebrities dropping like flies, along with career alterations and just life in general, I've started to focus on things that matter the most to me, and spending more time doing the things I love. Whilst this includes reading, some 'light' crafting, and filming for my YouTube channel and writing blog posts, it also means spending time with family, fiance, and friends.

So what does this mean for my blog and YouTube?

Absolutely nothing.

As soon as I finish a book, I'll be posting a collective review of my thoughts and feelings surrounding the book, its plot, characters etc. I'll still be posting videos as and when I can, with hopefully a variety of content.

But what about my reading?

Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk about in this post to be honest. I've FINALLY decided to make the executive decision of being ruthless toward my reading. I have such a huge TBR pile that it just has to be done. So how am I going to do it?

It's simple. If I'm reading a physical book, I'll give it 3 chapters, or between 30 and 50 pages, depending on what I reach first. If the book seems promising and I'm enjoying it, I'll see it out. If it isn't tickling my fancy, it'll have until the 50 page mark to redeem itself, or else it will be going on my DNF pile. If I'm reading an eBook, it will have between 10 and 20%, depending on the size of the book. If the book is large, I'll apply the 50 page rule, as long as my kindle has the page number option available. If not, it'll have up to 30% to redeem itself, or else I will be leaving it unfinished, It's a shame to have to be strict on myself and my reading, but when I have such a busy schedule, along with a continuous growth spurt of my TBR, it has to be done.

Have any of you had to be ruthless with your TBR? Or with anything else for that matter? If you have any more tips or tricks about being ruthless, let me know down below!

See you all soon with another post!

[spoiler]REVIEW: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

**not mine, taken from Photobucket, credit to the creator who is linked in the image**

Okay, so this review is an alternative, almost discussion-style post as opposed to my spoiler-free review here, so if you do not wish to be spoiled, please head there!

This book took me an aaaaaage to complete, at least that's what it felt like! But it's a big book, that requires commitment, which I seemingly lacked. 

I absolutely adored the down-to-earth characteristic that Sue displayed, although I did disagree with Sue's lifestyle, but hey-ho, in that time period, needs must right? And I'm certain she wasn't the only one being a fingersmith. I felt that her development through the book allowed us, as readers, to feel like we were living it up with her, in the sense that we felt how she felt, even though we knew what she didnt. One thing I did not like however, was that we knew a lot more of the truth than Sue did, way before she did. That was one thing I felt that let me down, as I could not sympathise as much with Sue whilst she was hating Gentleman and Maud with all her might, yet so desperately clung onto the idea that Sucksby was looking for her, which was, as we all know, is far, far, far from the truth!

Maud. Oh Maud, you seemingly naive, yet cunning girl. Yes, we understand your frustration with your lifestyle, and your Uncle, but you were looked after well, fed, and everyone tried to do the best for you. Hell, even I sympathised with you and I was Team Sue all the way! Well, I sympathised with you until you went, unsupervised, into the library and did the thing. I think, a part of me actually wanted Sue to carry out her hateful thoughts onto you, just for that act. Yes, I understand there was smut in probably every single one of those books, but someone took the time and effort to create the thing and you went ahead and destroyed at least one! You went down in my expectations after that Maud, especially when we discovered you were penning your own in the future. Not good. 

This is just a couple of my initial thoughts on the book, mainly on two of the characters. Is this something that you would like to see more of on my blog? A spoiler-free review, followed by a spoiler/discussion style post as well, where I offload all my thoughts which are free to discuss with you as readers? Let me know in the comments if this seems like a good plan. 

That's it for now, I'll be back in the New Year!

What if I don't like the book I'm reading?

DNF'ing books.

For those who do not know, DNF means 'did not finish', therefore, if you were to DNF a book, you would not be finishing it for whatever reason.

So what happens when you get this feeling? Simple. DO IT. You are not someone who can be controlled by the thoughts and opinions of others. If you pick up a book on the recommendation of others, be it through Google, Goodreads, YouTube, the newspaper, the shop, a friend or family member etc., and it turns out that really, you aren't enjoying it, then that is completely fine.

-

When I first joined the blogging and BookTubing worlds, I never expected to dislike a book. Before I joined, I read tried and tested authors who had either written something else that I had previously read, or were so similar to another franchise I liked, that they couldn't go wrong (I'm looking at, and blaming you, Twilight). But then I joined YouTube and began a BookTube channel and this blog (which is now a year old - yikes!), and realised that there are so many authors out there, who write so many different things, and in different styles, and that I wouldn't mind trying them all out.

Well that was a bad idea.

I found authors I didn't like, topics I thought were very very wrong (I'm looking at you Stolen, and Gone Girl), and to be perfectly honest, BookTubers who only seemed to be in it for the money. That wasn't what I wanted. So I began properly researching.

I looked first of all for BookTubers who were based in the UK. Why? Because that is where I am from. No, I'm not being culturally picky here, I couldn't care less where you come from, particularly if you're a wonderful person (and I'm sure you are). The reason I chose the UK to start my search was because if I found book recommendations from UK BookTubers, I knew I was guaranteed to find books they were talking about. Which was also a weakness. It opened my eyes to the various ways I could access books in the UK, and I bought pretty much every recommended book going that I thought I would enjoy. And in all honesty, I really didnt enjoy a lot of them. Some I found were juvenile, other just weren't to my taste.

And do you know what?

That's okay.

If you do not like a book, for whatever reason, you are not required to read it. This isn't school or college or university, you will NOT get an exam in it. It's almost guaranteed that if you force yourself to read a book, you will decrease your chances of ever enjoying it, and pretty much end up in a reading slump - another place you do not want to be headed too.

I don't really know where I was going with this, I just wanted to blog some thoughts that have been going around in my head the past few days. I hope you're all well, and do you ever DNF books? Or have you ever wanted to, but didn't grab the opportunity? Let me know in the comments!


Goodbye for now!

DISCUSSION: I cant afford to buy books, should I quit blogging/YouTube...the digital edition

Hello World! I'm back again with part two of my discussion regarding affording books, and what to do if you cant.

Today, I'm looking at the digital options. In todays society, pretty much everyone has either a tablet/Kindle/iPad, or a smartphone that can download apps, such as Apple or Android phones. Personally, I own a Kindle and an iPhone, and therefore, I also have the relevant digital reading options. On my Kindle I have way too many unread books (I'll explain how I got them later), all of which come to a total of maybe £10.00, and on my iPhone I have the Kindle app in sync with my Kindle, as well as iBooks, which comes with the phone, and I have about 5 or 6 books on there.

So, how do I manage to have so many UNREAD books on my Kindle, at a teeny tiny cost? I'll explain!

There are a number of options for digital books that cost very little, or are even free! So here's a couple of tips and tricks I use myself in order to drastically grow my TBR pile!

1. Overdrive app -  this app is a gem I've heard about on booktube (the part of YouTube where
people go mental over books, it's great, and if you haven't tried it yet you should). As long as your library is signed up, you can borrow digital copies of books and e-books, without having to leave the comfort of my pyjamas or bed. It's pretty straight forward to set up, and can be downloaded on both Apple and Android devices for free!
How to get it: http://app.overdrive.com/ 

2. Netgalley - This is a place the majority of people who review books already know about. Netgalley is a free site where you can request titles to read and review, usually before their release date. On some occasions, they also have the first book in a series available to request should a sequel be being released. The more you request, read and review, the more likely you are to be accepted for titles to read. I currrently have five or six books to read from Netgalley, but I have read and reviewed a few so far and really enjoyed them.
Where? https://www.netgalley.com/


3. Bookbub -  THIS SITE. My god. this site is brilliant. Basically, you sign up to their site, and they e-mail you daily with a bunch of exclusive deals to their site. All books are kindle books, and if you choose a book, it goes straight to the Amazon page where you can download it to the relevant device. They do a lot of free deals, but they also have a lot of bargain deals, such as £5.99 down to £0.99 for example.
Where? https://www.bookbub.com/home/

4. Kindle daily deals - If, like me, you have a Kindle, you will get emails daily about Kindle daily deals on books, and whilst the deals are not free deals, they are recent releases at a fraction of the price. In one instance, I got A Court Of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas for £1.99 instead of the retail price. For all I am yet to read it, it also means I wont be urged to buy the hardback or paperback versions instead!

5. Amazon (or iBooks) - Yes, I am well aware that this is where you get all of your books for the relevant e-reader, BUT each of these platforms have free books. Yes, I said FREE. One of my all time favourite books was a one that I found on my Kindle, for free. I downloaded it on a whim expected chick-lit mush, and it really wasn't!  For all there are quite a lot of books available for free on each domain, it is worth raking through some of them just to find a book you may fancy. You may also see that Classics are available on both platforms, completely free of charge, and there is nothing wrong with a good classic.

---

Okay, I think that's it for now. I know it's quite wordy and things,  but ultimately it's my way of trying to advise you in finding bargains in e-books. If you read more e-books, and you feel unworthy of YouTube, DO NOT. Many many people film reviews for e-books or post blog reviews for e-books, and nobody judges them or looks at them any differently. I apologise if this post isn't relevant to you, but if you manage to get your hands on an e-reader, I'd definitely recommend checking out all of the options above.


Find me elsewhere:
Twitter: www. twitter.com/craftsandreads
Instagram: www.instagram.com/craftsandreads
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6gNsTH21OANbS8mgoYfc4A

DISCUSSION: I can't afford books, should I keep blogging/ using YouTube?

Hello world! Today I'm coming at you with a response/reply to a certain video I watched this morning on YouTube, regarding the issues surrounding being able to afford books, and whether or not you should cease to blog or film if such money problems occur. 

The video in question:

The creator of the discussion is a man named Richard Denney (https://twitter.com/richarddenneyyy), who explains pretty much straight off that he's an author. He's an avid reader, booktuber and tweeter, and within this video he gets personal. As in he explains how he can 'afford' to keep Booktube going. How? It's simple.

You dont.

There are means and methods around having to 'afford' books. A lot of the time, as a Booktuber and blogger, you go through an introductory impulse buy when you join either community. I've been blogging and posting videos since September 2014 (it's now July 2015), and I still find myself impulse buying through recommendations of others. You bad influences you ;)        
However, this phase does need reigning in for myself personally, but if you can afford brand new books every single month, well done you! It is important to note though, that not everyone can afford this, and that's OKAY. There are other means to reading the newest books, or even older books that you want to read.

The methods:

SO, I've compiled a couple of things together to show different methods of being able to stay active on social media, whilst still being able to read new or newish books. Some of these Richard mentioned in his video, and some of them I have thought of on my own. 

1. Get a library card - if you live in the UK, you have the opportunity to get a library card from your local council, which doesn't tie you down to just one library, it opens you up to accessing several different libraries in your area, and some may have better options suited to your reading taste than others. You may need to pay a fee to get such a library card, but even if you pay £5.00 for that little bit of plastic (which is the most expensive I've seen), it is worth it in the long run, especially if you want to keep reading or prefer reading to deadlines in order to get another book out.

2. Bargain hunting - even if you begin in the big book stores, the majority now have SALE sections. That's right people of the UK, Waterstones have a sale section. Now, curb your excitement for a moment okay? Often, these books have been slightly damaged, or have been used for display purposes and may have nothing wrong with them at all. They're books at a fraction of their actual cost, and if it's something you really really want, maybe that slightly torn edge will be worth it?

3. Use popular books to your advantage - okay so this one may seem a little confusing. Basically, many UK supermarkets (and possible US walmarts, I'm really not too sure), get a wide selection of best sellers to sell in their stores. For example, the beautiful covers of the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series by George R.R Martin are available in at least two of the popular UK supermarkets, on deals of two for £7.00, which I have no shame in admitting is where I got my copies of the first two books. Considering they retail at £8.99 individually, there really is no harm in using your generic supermarkets.

4 Shop around - Yes, this is basically the same as number 2, but at the same time it's different. In the UK, there are a chain of shops called 'The Works', and pretty much every single city or town will have one. In this shop, they have a wide variety of stock available at a fraction of the price, such as a George R.R. Martin boxset for £30.00 instead of it's retailed price of £65.00. They also often have a sale on, with the majority of the books included being reduced to £1.00 each.

Within this 'Shop around' section, I am also going to mention car boot sales and charity shops. Quite a lot of my books in my hauls are all second hand, and I may buy one or two new books every three months or so depending on how desperately I want a book. Sometimes, those urges for new books take over, and that is OKAY, I just don't make a habit of it, as I already overspend on books! 

Quite a lot of the time, I manage to find books in spectacular condition in charity shops, their spines still like new, and the majority barely touched bar the odd knock here and there from storage. Plus, the most I have every paid for a second hand book is (from what I can remember) is £2.50, which is a third of the price of a usual brand new book. 

5. Ask Santa! (or your birthday fairy or the Easter bunny) - when I was younger, I always used to ask the Easter bunny for a book, as the newer Harry Potters were released around that date. As it was an alternative to chocolate, and slightly more expensive than an egg, it was often more favoured, as parents and family knew I would get more joy out of a book that I could read over and over, rather than egg shaped chocolate that would barely last an hour!

---

Now, I am aware that we are in a digital age, and therefore, a lot of people have smartphones and tablets with Apps on them that allow them to read. As this post is mainly focusing on my responses to being able to afford physical books, I shall post a separate post regarding digital books.

---

You've seen my examples so what now? Do you still have doubts about posting reviews or using YouTube? All I can do is offer advice, and it is up to you to take it. However, I will say a couple of more things before you're free!

It is YOUR decision. Just because a bunch of people who have more popular channels than you with all the books you want and they havent had to pay for them, should not put you off. As I've previously stated, the library is a good source of newly released books, so you can always pick up a copy to get you through a new book hype, return it when finished, and purchase it after if you really really want too. 

If you have issues with buying second hand, I completely understand that. However, their is an unspoken rule in second hand shops in the UK, which is that no book should be sold on if it smells. Sometimes, books smell. Usually of smoke, and often the smell is not always prominent until you actually flick through the book. I found this out the hard way at a car boot sale on day, brought the book home and it absolutely reeked of smoke and made me despise reading the book. My advice to you is this. Smell the books.

I know it sounds crazy, but trust me. Smell the books. It is easily the best thing I've started doing at car boot sales, and usually if you point out it smells a tad funky, theyll knock a little bit off the price too!

Okay, I think that's it for now! Thank you all for reading the post, I know it's a long one, but if it's made someone think, even just a little bit, then it has done it's purpose. Many thanks also to Richard, for posting such a thought provoking topic discussion on YouTube!

*Thank you Google, for providing such wonderful imagery that i can use in my posts, such as this one.

Find me here:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/craftsandreads

Instagram: www.instagram.com/craftsandreads