It’s advice everyone’s heard at some point. Covers, people seem to think, represent only the surface level appearance of a book, which is why it’s bad to judge books for their appearance instead of their substance. And while it’s true that the content of a book is the most important thing, readers should also remember that professionally designed book covers are expertly codified items of information, ripe for interpreting!
Indeed, if you approach book covers with a sharp eye, they can tell you a lot: the genre, the intended audience, what mood the story evokes, and even which plot elements were important enough to be selected for the cover art. (In fact, designers need to be careful not to spoil the book, as cover art can act as both content warning and spoiler).
This means a book cover, like the book itself, is subject to analysis. So put on your analytical hat and let’s see which clues you can look out for on covers, Sherlock-style. To do that, we’ll examine some recently published books from four distinct genres: YA, Romance, Thrillers, and Memoirs.
YA: Think Exclamation-Mark Energy!
YA is a joyful place in the world of book design, even if the books deal with heavier topics. As you can tell from just three examples, this genre’s covers radiate energy and enthusiasm. They use bright colors, often going for one color that really makes the entire cover pop with activity, like Holly Bourne’s It Only Happens in the Movies.
Now let’s talk fonts: the typography on a book’s cover is one of the most crucial aspects of book design. It’s a choice that reflects the spirit of a book, and paying attention to it can help you identify genre and mood—here, all three covers have lettering done by hand, a choice common in YA as it gives the covers a youthful, doodly, informal look. As YA is so broad, these covers also indicate sub-genres: they all fall under YA Romance, but communicate this information in different ways.
It Only Happens in the Movies clearly identifies romance as central to the story (notice the little heart inside the ‘O’ in ‘movies’), but the choice of popcorn suggests a humorous side. The Gravity of Us signals LGBT Romance with its beautiful illustration of two boys looking out toward the sky, whereas All the Bright Places chooses to remain more ambiguous, though the sticky notes nod toward a school setting. (If you take a look at Wilder Girls by Rory Power—The Wordy Habitat review here—you’ll see that this book defies YA’s preference for bright colors, choosing dark shadows to show it’s a mystery, but demonstrating it’s still within YA through the playful lettering.)
Romance: Titles Taking Center Stage
When an author is in the process of publishing their book, they are sometimes advised to revise their title to make sure it appeals to the right readers (famously the case with Toni Morrison’s Paradise). This is especially important in romance books, as the trend here is to feature the title as the central element of the cover. (Note that I’m talking about the rom-com type here—this doesn’t apply to more dramatic romance books, as those tend to feature photos of chiseled bodies.)
Here, delicate illustrations accompany the title lettering, standing in for an element of the plot, and the palette of the genre is generally limited to pinks, whites, blues, reds, purples, and various shades in between. There are exceptions, of course, but generally romance covers are chromatically muted—you aren’t likely to read any bright green or electric blue romances (unless they’re paranormal romances about zombies, radioactivity, or aliens)!
Thrillers/Crime: Bold in Every Way
Thriller covers are notoriously loud. It’s understandable — they’re meant to thrill you, and designers are doing their best to help authors market their books, so a strong cover is a must. Thriller covers generally use sans serif fonts (in other words, straight and clean lines, no decorative flourishes or squiggles). A no-BS genre demands a no-BS font!
Fonts aside, thrillers are unafraid to choose confident colors (looking at that neon green on My Sister the Serial Killer) and brave contrasts: in this small selection, we’ve got a combination of orange-white-black, neon green-black, blue-white-yellow, and black-white-red. These palettes are not fooling around. They demand your attention, and they demand it now.
A final note on thrillers: they’re more likely to feature photographs or illustrations as a larger element of their covers than, say, rom-com books, as they provide an intriguing way into the story. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, for example, displays the front of a building with an eerily lit window to hook a potential reader’s curiosity.
Memoir: Keeping It Personal
Memoir is a deeply personal subgenre of nonfiction, and memoir covers vary widely. These are truly an accomplishment of multi-tasking, as designers need to carefully balance authority with openness. To do that, they often go down two avenues: one is the use of personal photographs, sometimes edited to achieve an ‘aged’ look for a nostalgic feel (as you can see above, four of these covers use photos).
The other is choosing to emphasize the deeply personal nature of telling a story about yourself, so some designers will use hand-drawn lettering to convey the playfulness, intimacy, or sincerity of a diary (see The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, and The Prosecutor by Nazir Afzal respectively). Either way, the cover functions as a paratextual confirmation of the content’s veracity.
There are no hard-and-fast rules in book design—there are only patterns (see what I did there?), so exceptions are inevitable. Still, being aware of common tropes can really help you understand what a designer is trying to communicate.
Now that you’ve learned the basics, why not put your knowledge to the test by turning to your bookshelf or Reedsy’s book design gallery, and judging some more books by their covers? Look at examples from similar genres and see if you can detect the unspoken principles guiding the designers—this is especially entertaining when you know nothing about a book, as you can then test yourself by reading the synopsis at the back. Have fun!
This post was written for The Wordy Habitat by Desiree Villena.
Desiree Villena is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Desiree enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories.
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Are there any other patterns or trends that you have noticed in book covers?
It’s the age of the internet and that means fans can follow and interact (!!!) with celebrities. For readers, those celebrities are called authors.
There are many authors whom I follow as well. I follow partly for new book news but mostly to know the authors behind the scenes. Like what are they annoyed with today or memes that they find funny. Just fun things!
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Authors Who Have a Fun Social Media Presence and this week’s topic is Authors Who Have a Fun Social Media Presence. Let’s get to it!
[1] Rick Riordan
I’ve been following him since the time I joined Twitter, and I totally enjoy his tweets. Especially recently, since he posts updates about a new PJ adaptation (FINGERS CROSSED WE GET ONE!).
Okay, fine, coronavirus, I will try not to touch my face, but I draw the line at not touching my dog’s face. pic.twitter.com/G1pthlXJCP
She is an ABSOLUTE QUEEN and its fun to follow her both on Twitter and Instagram. Schwab is hilarious, especially with her tweets. Also, most of her tweets are SUPER RELATABLE.
I have a pot of tea, a chocolate brownie, and a blank page. Let's make shit up.
She is HILARIOUS. I love following her on both Twitter and Instagram. Her Instagram user name is so cool.
One of the recent highlights was when there was a line in P.S. I Still Love You (Sequel of To All The Boys) that was VERY SIMILAR to a very popular line from her book The One. Everyone started tweeted her about it and she had NO CLUE because she doesn’t watch movies. It was so funny.
Did I get excited and have too much coffee cake? Yes. Yes, I did. Do I regret it? If you think yes, I feel like you don't know me.
A post shared by Kiera Cass (@partylikeawordstar) on
[4] Hank Green
Hank Green’s tweets on Twitter are crack. me. up. He also tweets about relevant things that are happening in the world currently.
Everyone please take a moment with me to to appreciate page 308 of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor…the only page in the entire book that did not receive a single note, change, or extra comma during copy editing.
— Hank Green (Going to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan!) (@hankgreen) March 7, 2020
I just heard a rich guy on a podcast say that the average time spent doing housework has dropped from 54 hours a week to 1.5 hours a week. He made a huge deal about it and no one called him on it and I'm like, "DO ANY OF YOU HAVE A HOUSE?!?!"
— Hank Green (Going to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan!) (@hankgreen) March 6, 2020
His tweets are almost ALWAYS funny, and they’re all about his family. His young daughters are such ICONS and it’s so cool to see random life updates through his tweets.
I’ve shown his account to multiple IRL* friends actually.
*In Real Life
5-year-old: Do I have to fall in love someday?
Me: No.
5: Good. I have stuff to do.
— James Breakwell, Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) March 7, 2020
I mean.. seriously. I love the 5 year old. (He always refers to them by their ages)
7-year-old: Can I ask you a job question?
Me: Sure.
7: Can I be president if I'm also a queen?
Dream big.
— James Breakwell, Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) February 29, 2020
[6] Penny Reid
Considering some of my favourite romance books are written by her, its obvious that she would be just as awesome as a person. Or as a Twitter account.
She also responds and interacts with her fans a TON.
It doesn't hurt, but my stomach is making sounds like a haunted house. It was either the jalapenos or the extra sriracha.🤔
Listening (upstairs) to my 10 y/o daughter (downstairs) improvise songs on her guitar based on poetry she’s written. There are a lot of feelings being expressed in rhyme.
Her Instagram account is GORGEOUS. First of all, love her fashion and her style. It’s not my style, but I do admire her for having a very distinctive style. Another thing I love is getting glimpses of her CUTE daughter.
She’s the author of The Poppy War, but it doesn’t seem like it in her Twitter feed because she talks about all life things more than book things.
One of her tweets became popular and found it’s way into my feed, which was how I started following her. It actually took me a few seconds to realize that she’s the author haha.
Sharing my FAVOURITE tweet thread by her lol.
i cant believe they're going to give a doctorate to this dumbass
anyways, yes, it was an AMAZING moment to share with him (and see the look on his face) and record some of it. we both knew the moment we heard the other guy's voice on speaker, and his eyes went like O.O 🙂 absolutely unreal.
the funniest thing about the responses is all the ppl saying "oh PhD candidates just be like that" but i'm starting a PhD this fall too and i'm not putting extra large eggplants in the garbage disposal to "see how fast they twirl"
I actually BURST OUT LAUGHING when I read the first tweet. And I was in public.
[10] Alexa Martin
I’ve spoken about her and her books several times in my posts, especially in the recommendation lists. So, of course, I had to find her online and follow her.
I just ordered margarita sorbet (with tequila) from Uber eats and it is literally the best thing to ever happen to me.
For a long time, I considered myself the multitasking master.
And I wasn’t alone in thinking this. Many of my friends heralded me on this as well. They’ve asked me “how do you multitask so well?” or “how are you even able to do that?” They would complain about not being able to do the same.
All of that just fed my ego. I was determined to keep multitasking and show off this skill.
But in the last few months I learnt something. It’s not that I’m good at keeping track of multiple things at the same time, or do multiple things just fine with lesser focus. It’s that I learnt what tasks to multitask with.
I came across Jay Shetty’s podcast where he says that most people who think they multitask well, actually don’t. They would do better uni-tasking if they tried it.
So I tried it. I wanted to prove to myself that I’m one of the few who is good at it. And then I found that I’m not actually good at multitasking sometimes.
The key word here is SOMETIMES. At times, multitasking definitely increased my productivity, and other times it decreased my productivity. How do I know when to do what, then?
None of us are taught how to multi-task. None of us are trained on splitting our focus between multiple activities. We learn by trying. But a lot of people give up saying they don’t know how to multitask.
Multitasking is a strategy. It’s a method which, when formed and used well, increases your productivity.
By trial and error, I figured out how to increase my multitasking productivity further. And I’m going to share that with you today.
I will tell you how to get better at multitasking below but first let’s get something straight.
What is multitasking?
Multitasking is the act of doing more than one task at a time.
I know I know, you’re rolling your eyes and saying “that’s obvious”. But there are many different types of multitasking.
You could be multitasking on a small level, by responding to texts when listening to music. Or you could be multitasking on a bigger level, like taking a call when editing a document.
All of us multitask on some level ALL THE TIME. We have multiple thoughts running in our head. As I’m writing this post, I can suddenly remember that I kept the stove on and run to switch it off.
There are tonnes of articles that talk about advantages of multitasking or the disadvantages of multitasking. But there is no conclusion, and that’s because they are all thinking this: either you can multitask, or you can’t.
But that’s not how it is. You CAN multitask. Everyone can.
The problem is finding out at which level our productivity declines. The line of distinction may be different for different people. You have to find out which is yours and work at keeping your productivity high.
Fun fact: multitasking in human behaviour and multitasking in computers is visually similar. In fact, the same terms are often used to describe both. As a computer science student, these similarities are interesting to me.
While the same terms are used for both, the process of multitasking in computers and humans is VERY different. This article by Bryan Braun explains it well.
For the purpose of this post, I’m dividing multitasking activities into TWO CATEGORIES.
ACTIVE-PASSIVE MULTITASKING
Let’s consider an example where you are drinking coffee while reading a book.
The active task is reading the book. You are reading with concentration and absorbing information. It requires considerable attention.
The passive task is drinking coffee. It doesn’t require a lot of attention. In fact, it barely takes away your concentration from the book. You can do this task without actually thinking much.
This multitasking is not hurting anyone, and it’s definitely not distracting you from your book. It’s not reducing your productivity level.
Active-passive multitasking level basically means that a major part of your focus is on ONE ACTIVE TASK. The simultaneous other tasks performed are PASSIVE and don’t require continuous attention, or considerable attention.
Active-passive multitasking is GOOD. If you performed these passive tasks alone, giving them your 100%, you would be under-utilizing your time and energy.
One can argue that doing multiple passive tasks together can also increase productivity, which is true.
But as human beings we generally prioritize when we are multitasking, and we subconsciously make one task as the “active” one, by giving it more attention. That’s why there is no passive-passive multitasking level. It’s always at least active-passive.
Active-active multitasking involves multitasking with MORE THAN ONE “IMPORTANT” TASK. These important tasks are anything that requires considerable mental focus and energy.
Having a conference call while simultaneously making notes is active-active multitasking. Cooking two dishes at once is active-active multitasking. Listening to a podcast while studying is active-active multitasking.
Sometimes active-active multitasking is required, but they are generally NOT GOOD.
Each of the tasks require considerable focus but receive partial focus. This leads to all of these tasks taking longer and not being done well.
If you’ve ever read articles on the topic of multitasking, you might have come across the term “context switching”.
WHAT IS CONTEXT SWITCHING?
Context switching is when you shift your focus from one activity to another.
Here’s an example situation. You’re studying a topic. It has most of your focus, if not all. Then suddenly you realize that you have to send an important email. It will take just 10 minutes. Hence, you hit pause on your studying and “switch” to writing the email. After finishing that, you “switch back” to studying.
The switching between activities takes some amount of energy and concentration. You have to actively hit pause on the first task, remember where to pick it back from, and then shift your focus to the second task.
When you’re multitasking between “active tasks”, your timeline goes like this:
Focus on task 1 –> pause task 1 and remember where to start back from –> get things ready for task 2 –> focus on task 2.
Everything between “focus on task 1” and “focus on task 2” comes under context switching. Context switching involves loss of time and energy.Bryan Braun’s article explains context switching in detail.
Active-Active multitasking involves a lot of content switching. If both or all your tasks take a long time to complete, the cost of context switching is high.
Studies have also shown that getting back to an active task after doing something else requires conscious effort. Returning to your first task after focusing on another task takes around 20 minutes. This is because your concentration was broken and has to be developed again.
The people who have studied multitasking trends in their lives, and what makes them more productive, would say that the best way to multitask is multitasking with the cost of context switching in mind.
So, what IS the key to multitasking?
I wrote a very long introduction to get to this point, but I promise I’m going to bring it all together in this section.
The key to multitasking is a good strategy.
Having a good multitasking strategy can immensely increase your productivity. This strategy includes two things.
And I am going to tell you that strategy in TWO sentences.
Always try to do active-passive multitasking. This is a very easy way to increase productivity. Keep ONE task as your “active” task which will require considerable amount of time and/or energy. Pair it with one or (maximum) two passive tasks. But also make sure that the active tasks here CAN be paused multiple times.
Only do active-active multitasking if it is REQUIRED or the cost of switching is low. Never pair two tasks that require concentration. Context switching WILL be high because your concentration has to be developed again and again. Only pair these when you can’t avoid it, like in work meetings.
And that’s it.
Once you understand what tasks make up active-passive and what are active-active, it will become very easy for you to decide on WHEN to multitask. That is your strategy.
Doing two active tasks alone one after the other will take lesser time than doing them together.
An easy way to pair active-passive activities is pairing audio activities to visual activities. For example, cooking and listening to a podcast, taking a call when doing chores etc.
Examples of active tasks that you SHOULD NOT multitask: studying, writing, working on a project etc. Notice that all of these tasks are ones that require proper concentration and require good results. They have to be done well.
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Conclusion
The key to multitasking is being conscious of how you multitask i.e. what tasks you choose to do together.
Once you start consciously understanding what tasks go well together and what don’t, it will become easier to make decisions on multitasking. Eventually, you’ll do it without thought.
Conscious effort is only required at the start.
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If you’ve been quite involved in the online bookish community for a while, especial book twitter, you would at least know about the talk around content warnings.
For the last year or so, I’ve seen a rise in the mentioning of content warnings for books. Be it in book reviews, synopses, or just tweets talking about the books. Content warnings are being increasingly included.
In all honesty, I was confused about the whole debate in the beginning. Why was it something that needed to be said? Isn’t it easier to inherently better to specify content warnings so that readers will know what they’re getting themselves into? Personally, I need to be in the right head-space to read about heavy topics.
I was even more confused when people were advocating AGAINST content warnings. The main reasoning was that it would giveaway some of the content, and be somewhat of a spoiler. That the “experience” of the plot will be ruined. And I guess, to some extent, I can agree. But what if the topic can seriously trigger a reader, and emotionally harm them? Isn’t that an even worse experience? How is it justifiable to choose not spoil a part of the book in return for potentially harming the well-being of the reader?
Not sure about you, but I was shocked by the debate and just how strongly many opposed content warnings. I wasn’t vocal about it online, but I did appreciate and retweet everyone who spoke for content warnings.
But I am glad to have seen the talk online, because it made me realize that while I appreciated content and trigger warnings, I wasn’t including them myself. You cannot believe just how ashamed I was for not mentioning it in my reviews specifically. I would mention them in sentences in my reviews normally, but I wouldn’t highlight them so they’re not missed.
After realizing, I started putting in content warnings for books. While I haven’t made time to update all of my previous reviews with warnings, I make sure to add them when writing new reviews. I admit, I don’t know just about everything which requires content warnings. There seems to be varying degrees of seriousness to content warnings online. Some people put up warnings for a lot of things, while others put a highlight on heavy topics only.
So, I started going with my gut. Whatever I felt like needs content warnings, I put it in. But I’m glad that I consciously realize and put in content warnings for things. And every time I come across content warnings by others, I am appreciative. Even though I’m okay with reading just about every thing, I’d rather know what I’m walking into and if I’m in the right head-space for it.
I’m disappointed that while reviewers and bloggers have begun mentioning content warnings, authors and publishers RARELY do it. It’s saddening to see that, in the marketing perspective, they’d rather everyone pick up the book and don’t bother to consider the readers’ well-being.
The only genre where I’ve seen content warnings mentioned officially is romance. There are tons of romance authors out there who specifically mention content warnings, and I’ve seen it highlighted in Goodreads pages. Once I realized that not everyone does it, I’ve become grateful of the authors and officials who took the time to consider and and put in those warnings.
Seeing it from the other perspective, yes, some readers may choose not to pick up the book after seeing the content warnings. In fact, after I strongly mentioned the trigger warnings in my review of Long Shot, there were multiple comments saying that they will make sure to not pick it up because they can’t handle it. But that’s also a GOOD thing. From the marketing perspective, if those readers read the book and had a bad experience, they would rate and review it negatively.
In fact, I’ve seen several negative reviews of books which are solely because there were no content warnings, which lead the readers to have a bad experience. And that, in turn, hurts sales and warns others from picking up the book.
It can also work the other way, though. For example, when I read Kat’s review of Long Shot, I didn’t pick it up immediately. I waited until I was sure that I’m in the right head-space for it, and would be able to deal with the emotions the book would give me, before picking it up. And I was able to enjoy the book more knowing what will be thrown at me. I’m sure that if there were no warnings, my experience wouldn’t have been the same.
In conclusion, I’m totally for content and trigger warnings to mentioned whenever a book is reviewed/recommended. They make a huge impact in the reader’s perception of the book, before and while reading the book. And no matter what, people’s mental health is much more important. Everyone should be more considerate of the effects some topics could have on other readers.
Several readers find solace in books. Myself included. We read to get away from reality to a different world. One with adventure, an interesting life, and possibly happy endings. Content warnings help with choosing which books to read according to what the reader can handle.
The reason I got into romance in the first place was because almost all of them have happy endings, and I could really use the hope. But going in for a happy ending, and coming across heavy topics, would totally ruin my reading experience.
Books I’ve enjoyed after reading the content warnings:
Blogging is a diverse a activity. Not only does it involve writing blog posts, it brings in photography, planning, formatting, social media, and so much more.
As someone who has been blogging for four years, the one thing I can say for sure is that your list of to-dos for blogging increases with time. I started off with small blog posts, and then I found out that there’s something called stats and SEO. There’s something called “readability” such that your blog posts are more appealing and easy to read. After that, I went on a research spree about metadata and hashtags, which lead me to social media, which lead to a whole range of other things.
But, leaving the to-do lists, what is blogging? What is it like to be a blogger? What do we struggle with, and what confuses us? That’s what this post is about. Today we’re talking about 10 things that show exactly what blogging is like, other than the basic activities.
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1. INVOLUNTARILY TREATING BLOGGING LIKE A JOB
Blogging is a hobby, and a wonderful one. But let’s face it, all bloggers get hit with the treat-blogging-like-a-job syndrome, whether we like it or not.
The sheer number of blogs on the internet, in every field, means that we’re all fighting for attention. And most of the time, it’s each other’s attention. At some point, we begin to care about statistics and how many views our blogs receive. As we care more, we also put in more and more effort into our blogs. Keeping up with indexes, images, and coming up with new posts every week is not easy. Soon enough, it’s as taxing as a full-time job.
Blogging as a hobby becomes as demanding as a job. You need to be extra motivated to keep up. But, it’s also SO REWARDING. Just watching the final post, and watching it get views and comments is the best feeling ever. You can almost immediately see the results of your hard work.
An apt Parks and Rec GIF
2. ALWAYS TELLING YOURSELF TO NOT OBSESS OVER STATS
I doubt that there is even one seasoned blogger who hasn’t done this. Stats is a funny thing. It can make you feel like you’re on top the world, but it can also make you feel like you suck.
Some months, when I’m consistently blogging and putting my ALL, the stats go up and I become SO HAPPY. But when life takes over my priorities, and my blog suffers, the stats shut down and it makes me feel so low.
There are several blog posts that say the number 1 thing you have to stop doing is obsessing over stats. That goes for everyone, whether you’re a new blogger or an experienced one. But, saying is harder than doing it, right? Who here relates?
3. WONDERING WHY A POST YOU LIKE ISN’T GETTING MUCH RESPONSE
Have you ever written a super cool post? One that you were excited about before even starting? A post that sounds so fun or great to you that you went all out—editing multiple times, adding anecdotes and jokes, and making sure the images are ON POINT. It’s that post which you expect would go viral, or at least be popular.
And have you seen that post under-perform? It’s the most confusing thing ever! Like, I’ve spent three days on perfecting the post but WHY AREN’T PEOPLE LIKING IT. Let me know your experiences in the comments, because I’m sure some of us will have this in common.
4. CONFUSED AS TO WHY A RANDOM, SUB-PAR POST IS RECEIVING LOTS OF ATTENTION
I think I can say that most of us have definitely had this moment. One of those posts that you simply wrote to post something, which you didn’t proof-read or even add proper images to. You simply wrote it, and hit publish. Why is THAT receiving tons of attention? More than other, better posts?
Sometimes, it’s just so weird. One of my posts which had barely 300 words and 2 images, which wasn’t even proof-read, actually went on to be the first link in a popular google search term! I was baffled. It still continues to bring in views from search engines, and I’m STILL not sure why.
5. FEELING GUILTY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO VISIT AND GIVE LOVE TO OTHER BLOGS REGULARLY
This is one thing that I always struggle with—not being able to regularly read other blogs and comment. I do read pretty often, but I don’t spend much time on it every time. And lately, I’ve not been able to blog hop much. I try here and there but it’s not how much I’d like to be doing. I mean, why should I expect others to visit my blog when I don’t visit theirs?
And, this is a continuous struggle! I don’t comment for three days and the guilt starts piling up. Tell me if you relate to this, because I can’t be the only one.
6. TRYING TO KEEP TRUE TO YOURSELF & ALSO WRITE CONTENT THAT READERS LIKE
This is SO HARD. You could pour your heart out writing book reviews, but if your readers like discussion posts more, you’ll obviously try to do them more.
At some point, my content has changed to reflect what receives more views. Not all of my content comes from my head or my passion. Some content comes from other posts which have received lots of comments. When I realize that a certain type of post is liked by people, I try to write those more. My blog today is SO DIFFERENT than what I started with.
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As a blogger, you have to find a fine balance. How much are you willing to change your content in order to get more attention? What if you completely change your blog only to realize that your loyal readers loved your true style from before? Such questions keep me thinking at random times.
7. SECOND GUESSING EVERY TIME YOU SELF-PLUG OR PROMOTE YOUR BLOG
In the beginning, even when I finally decided to tell my friends that I blog, I didn’t actually open my mouth and say “go check it out”. I would just off-handedly mention that I’m blogging or something. In fact, for the longest time, even my best friends didn’t follow my bookstagram. And I couldn’t make myself ask them to follow me.
“Am I promoting myself or am I being annoying? Is this appropriate? Will it look like I’m showing off? What if they don’t want to follow me?”
I know people, online and offline, who SLAY on self-promotion. But me? I hesitate so much! I just cannot promote myself every where. I mean, I don’t talk well to many people in the first place. The introvert life hitting hard. I could count the number of times I’ve self-promoted in my two hands, and I’ve been blogging for four years.
8. TRYING TO MAKE AESTHETIC AF GRAPHICS AND END UP SPENDING AN HOUR (OR MORE!) ON THEM
You have a specific idea on how your graphics should look for a post, and you spend a lot of time on getting them PERFECT, without realizing the time. You didn’t have to, but you did.
A lot of bloggers are perfectionists. The fact that the whole world will be seeing our content spurs us on to do our best. Graphics play a huge role in how a blog post looks. You may have amazing content written, but it would definitely look better to readers with pretty graphics that break up the paragraphs.
The header image makes SO MUCH of an impact as well. It took me a long time to find my style of headers. Until then, I spent a lot of time on each, trying out different templates on Canva and different background images. I did take an hour on multiple occasions.
9. STRUGGLING TO MANAGE BLOGGING AND OTHER HOBBIES
Can I get a hell yeah for this? Because it’s SO TRUE.
Because blogging involves so much more than just typing, it’s a big commitment. It takes a lot of time to do all the things associated with blogging.
Before I began blogging, I already had a few hobbies. And blogging takes up so much time! I literally don’t paint, sketch, or doodle anymore. I used to at least be a little artsy before, but I don’t now because I spend all my time on this blog. As of now, all my hobbies are blogging-related. We can put reading under the same umbrella because this is partially a book blog. Blogging is my sole hobby at this point.
On a related note, it’s hard enough to manage one hobby while being a student or working long hours, but it’s harder to do anything other than blogging if you’re a blogger too.
10. TRYING NOT TO BE JEALOUS OF ALL THE AMAZING BLOGGERS AND THEIR WORK. AND FAILING.
I am so guilty of this.
Almost every time I look at new blogs, I come across such COOL blogs. They have beautiful interfaces, graphics, and colour schemes. Once I read their content? I’m done for. At this point, there is a long list of bloggers whom I look up to. They do GREAT at blogging. Content? On point. Timing? On point. Personality shown through the content? Super engaging. I cannot deal.
No matter what blog, I almost always find something to take away. An improvement that I can do, or some inspiration.
It may also cause imposter syndrome. When I first found paperfury, I was IN AWE. I immediately tried being more funny, and using more formatting to add comments and stuff. While it was fun to blog that way, eventually I realized that it wasn’t me. It took me a while to find a happy medium. I blog in my own style, while adding small things to my style, instead of copying someone else’s.
Blogging encompasses a lot of things. It’s not just writing blog posts anymore. It is drafting, writing, making graphics, marketing, editing, socializing and so much more. If you have been in the blogging game for a while, you’ll know that blogging comes with a list of “things to do”. And sometimes, that list feels very long.
One of the most debated topics in the blogging community, specifically the book blogging community, is blog hopping. There are many questions about it. Do you HAVE to blog hop? How much? How often? Is there a right way of doing it? And is blog hopping important for your blog to grow?
Today, I’m here to talk about those questions, and give some answers of my own.
WHAT IS BLOG HOPPING?
If you’re new to the blogging community, you might be thinking that I’m talking gibberish, and I’m sorry about that.
Blog hopping is the act of visiting multiple blogs and commenting on their posts. Usually, the term is used for when you spend quite a bit of time doing this. For example, when I start to blog hop, I spend at least 20 minutes.
I won’t lie, it’s a process. It takes a while and you probably can’t do it often. Because 1) visiting several blogs, truly reading their posts and commenting TAKES TIME. And 2) it’s hard to set aside some time regularly to do this.
WHY DO BLOGGERS DO IT?
There are multiple reasons why bloggers blog hop.
To find many new blogs. And also make new blogger friends! Personally, I find new blogs to follow by blog hopping. I read tons of content. I check out multiple posts in the same blog to get a feel of the blogger and what their content is about. It’s a great way to find bloggers to follow, and bloggers to interact with.
To become inspired. I find that every time I blog hop, I get so many new ideas for my own blog. Be it ideas about design, style, formatting, graphics, or content. I ALWAYS get inspired and want to start blogging with these new ideas immediately. Hence, if I find myself without ideas or inspiration, I do a little blog hop session which gets my mind running.
I believe that if you’re a person who makes creative content—be it writing, painting, photography or whatever else—you should always be open to inspiration. I find myself looking for inspiration constantly, even if it’s from my daily life or something that a friend said.
Let me be clear on one thing, inspiration and mimicking are two very different things. This post that you are currently was actually inspired by a post on blog hopping by Caitlin Althea (whom I found through blog hopping actually!). Her post and mine have the same subject, but they’re totally different in writing and actual content. We’re both talking about blog hopping but with different questions and different answers. Mimicking would be to almost copy her content and opinions.
I don’t think this actually needs to be said but always make sure that you’re writing your own content. Don’t copy someone else’s in hopes that it will make your blog more popular. Your own words and opinions will make much more of an impression on readers. Be you.
To enjoy content, obviously. I LOVE reading blogs. A post about your daily routine? I’ll be right there! Are you talking about books? Love it. Do you blog about your personal life? I’m down for that! When I have spare time and I want to just chill, I read blogs. Sometimes I even learn new things from them.
To bring back traction to your blog. This is the most popular point that is spoken about anytime blog hopping is mentioned, and it is probably the most motivating reason. Pretty much every blogger who has been around around for a while would share their opinions on blog hopping and the true reason for doing it. And it is the point that this post revolves around.
It’s most likely that if you visit a blog and give them some love, they will return the favour. When I comment on a couple or more posts, the blogger almost always returns the gesture by visiting and commenting on my blog. And I do the same, if a blogger finds my blog first.
The main piece of advice every new blogger receives is INTERACT INTERACTINTERACT. And this is what traction through blog hopping based on. If you’re nice to a blogger, they will want to be nice to you as well. And hence, if your blog is suffering in terms of views or comments, you can blog hop and be certain that your blog will get some traction as well.
SO, IS BLOG HOPPING IMPORTANT FOR MY BLOG’S STATS?
If you’re a new blogger, YES. Definitely.
The reason why my blog received any attention in the beginning was because I was visiting multiple other blogs and commenting. I was mainly doing it to see how blogging works, to see the different styles, and to make new friends. At the time, I did not expect that bloggers are so nice that they would come back and visit my silly blog as well. I was mainly researching about blogging by visiting several blogs but it also helped my blog take off.
Bloggers are super nice. Almost every blogger I’ve interacted with in my four years of blogging (I’m old lol) has been SUPER NICE. Bloggers are welcoming, kind and fun to talk to. Don’t wait for them to find you. You have to find them first.
If you’re a seasoned blogger, it depends. But blog hopping always helps.
When I say “it depends”, I mean that it depends on whether your current blog stats i.e. views, likes and comments, are good enough for you. If you want them to go up, blog hopping always helps. But I’m also aware that seasoned bloggers tend to raise the bar every time, and hence do a lot of work related to their blogs. So if you are not able to blog hop often, it’s okay. And if you get views from search engines, those posts will definitely keep going up.
I wouldn’t say it’s “important”, but it DOES help boost stats. And it definitely helps in growing your blog.
Annyeong everyone! I’m starting this blog post as I watch Melon Music Awards on another tab, where BTS has already won 3 awards. I think it’s safe to say that I’m now an ARMY, although I still don’t feel like I’m one because there’s so much about BTS that I don’t know.
I know this post will take me days to finish, and I’m still excited to write ALL THE THINGS. Also warning: this is going to be a long blog post. You might want to free yourself for a little bit. #sorrynotsorry
Burn The Stage is the documentary of BTS’s Wings tour, which took them all over the world in a year. It contains behind the scenes, random fun the boys have, their hardships and their wins, and also exclusive interviews.
In all honesty, the experience was a wild ride. And only some of it was the actual movie.
When my friends and I found out that India will be one of the countries to see Burn The Stage, we were STOKED. This was the first time Indian ARMYs got recognition. There were so many ARMYs who immediately started saving up money for the tickets, which we expected would be a little expensive at least.
The movie was acquired by INOX theatres and the booking was all online. For the movie, to be released on 15th November, the bookings was supposed to be on 4th November. And the worst part? The plan was to show only ONE screening of the movie in SELECT cities.
This was nerve-wracking because there are TONS of ARMYs and my friends and I planned on being on the website at all times that day to grab tickets ASAP.
But the movie was not listed online that day. For the next few days all ARMYs were anxiously checking the INOX website, slowly getting discouraged. Would we even get to see the movie?
A lot of people started spamming INOX on twitter and the official BTS India Instagram page reached out to them as well.
Eventually we got a reply that the movie had still not gotten cleared from the Indian censor board. We were ENRAGED, guys. As it is, the Indian censor board doesn’t have a good reputation.
On November 15th 2018, all Indian ARMYs saw the rest of the world watch and react to the movie while we still didn’t know if we’d get to watch it. And all we could do was continue spamming INOX, but stopped that as well once they told the official Instagram page that they’ll update once they have any news.
Since everyone was bashing the censor board, they released a statement that they didn’t have any problems with the movie. The reason it was getting held up was because of insufficient documentation and they requested blurring of an alcohol label in ONE scene.
The movie finally got cleared, though. The tickets were released on 19th, first for Delhi. The second the news got out, everyone who was free went online checking for their cities.
I was home, thankfully, studying for an upcoming test when one of my friends called asking my confirmation to book the tickets. But by the time she got back to me, telling me to book with my card, the servers of the website were overloaded. My friends and I kept refreshing the website but after selecting the movie and the show, we got errors. I encountered at least three different types of errors.
And just like that, within 10 minutes, the show sold out. We had 1 show in 1 mall on 25th, and it sold out. Needless to say, my friends and I were SO DISAPPOINTED.
We gave up but later we found out that ARMYs who kept refreshing the website for hours and kept checking found seats. Due to many people being online at the same time, servers crashed and free seats were marked blocked.
Hearing this, my friends and I went back online and kept refreshing. While we were doing that, I saw ANOTHER mall in the listing with one show there. I freaked out, my friend called me and told to book there IMMEDIATELY.
I tried and after refreshing a few times (because the servers got overloaded then as well), I finally saw the screen to select the seats. By then most of the seats were already booked. Since we were 4 people going together, I selected whatever 4 seats I saw together, which was the second bottom row, and clicked next. My heart was beating FAST. I kept hoping that it won’t cancel on me.
After I entered my card details the first time, it didn’t go through and I was asked to do it again. I knew that if I tried again from the start, I won’t get tickets. But thankfully it only told me to enter my card details again.
At this point my hands were shaking so much. I could barely type. Right after I finished typing the card details, the card slipped from my hands but I did not care.
It took A WHOLE MINUTE to process the payment, during which I was worried as heck. But I finally got the confirmation and I stared at it for at least 30 seconds, checking if it’s real.
I GOT THE TICKETS! Right as I called my friend to let her know, my phone switched off. (It does that sometimes, just switches off when there’s too much going on in the phone.) I was thankful that it, at least, didn’t crash on me during booking.
I called her after I connected my phone to the charger (and retrieved my card from under the sofa) and told her, and even she took a couple seconds to register what I said. I was still shook from the experience of just booking the tickets. My heart was beating really fast as if I ran a kilometer but my brain was not registering much beyond “I got the tickets”.
Source: change.org
Good thing too because later I found out that the show I got tickets for sold out in two minutes. TWO.
My friends and I calmed down and went on to study. That night we found out that INOX kept adding shows all over the city. I think they were waiting to see the response before adding more shows.
They even added a show near our area, which would have been so much more convenient! We got tickets for an 8pm show in a mall which is over an hour away from us. Of course since they added more shows, the chaos of exchanging and buying tickets online between ARMYs ensued. And there was a lot of it.
We didn’t exchange though. We didn’t want to take the risk.
Now that there were shows and enough tickets.. all the planning started. It’s the first time ever that there’s an official BTS thing happening in India and everyone wanted to make it special.
Everyone made whatsapp groups for all the malls. My friends and I found and joined the one for our mall as well. Only a fraction of all attenders found the whatsapp groups, but it was enough for us to plan things.
In a few days, we decided on the following:
Everyone would wear purple ribbons to signify that we’re ARMYs.
We would take videos and document our experience as part of a nation-wide GCF project.
The dress code was black and purple, if not BTS merch. (Not many stuck to that though)
Some people were selling posters and fanarts.
One person was selling postcards of BTS pictures, which we had to pick at random without looking. (I got two photos—one of Jin, who is my bias, and one of Jimin.)
One girl was making glittery purple heart pins for everyone who shazamed Waste It On Me.
My friends and I got some badges made with the BTS and ARMY logos and sold them. (I’m kinda proud of our badges, not gonna lie.)
this is one of the badges we got.
Some ARMYs had also planned on flash mobs and dances (which we got permission for in prior) but it couldn’t work out due to state mourning of a sudden death that day.
We also sang Magic Shop, Two! Three! and Epiphany before going into the theatre.
Right before the movie we did the ARMY fanchant in the theatre, we tried an ARMY light wave and took videos.
All-in-all it was a big day.
Now, the actual movie?
Was B E A U T I F U L.
The movie went up and down in emotions, in waves. It was serious, nostalgic and somber and then it was joyful, funny and uplifting. And repeat.
The movie was narrated by 4 of the members (we think) and they compared parts of the wings tour to words such as “desert” and “oasis”. The comparisons were so fitting with the meaning of the words and the footage that followed.
The first half an hour I spent with my hand on my heart, not looking away from the screen. I can confirm that I teared up multiple times during the movie.
What I liked best about the movie was that it was real. We saw them having fun, cooking, getting awards and crying out of happiness. We also saw them get injured, practice hard and get bloody tired during a concert. It felt—was—unfiltered.
ARMYs know that the BTS members work HARD. They keep pushing themselves harder and harder, and it shows. The movie just showed more of the work and practice parts of it, which we’ve never seen before.
I didn’t want to blink throughout the movie in fear that I would miss something.
In fact, near to the end of the movie, I started worrying about it ending. I didn’t want it to end. And in that thought process, I missed the last line. The movie ended abruptly, just leaving us hanging, wanting more.
It was beautiful. I fell in love with them all over again.
Source: Hypebae
When I got home, which was at 11pm, I texted my best friend Hema and was telling her everything that happened. And I was still so into the movie that I was emotional. I couldn’t stop talking.
Hema said that she’s never seen me have such deep feelings, and it’s kind of true. I don’t usually feel much for anything other than books and characters that I’ve gotten attached to overtime. And I usually don’t text her when I’m feeling emotional about things. But, I couldn’t help it this time.
For the first time ever I’ve seen so many people who love something dearly gather in one place and do things selflessly. Legit, all the ARMYs were so kind and nice. Everyone wanted to do things for BTS and other ARMYs. Everyone was laughing and smiling, and talking about BTS and how BTS matters to them.
Some ARMYs stood at the entrace of the 8pm show theatre and gave out these tiny photos of BTS with the date and time written below. Bless their souls. That small thing made us all so damn happy.
And during the movie, everyone was pin drop silent. I’ve heard of other places where ARMYs kept screaming at random moments and disturbing others but that didn’t happen for us. We made sure to tell everyone to keep quiet. We were all united and despite me only talking to my friends and not really socializing, I felt like I was still with everyone. And I’ve not been a fan for as long as most of them.
Here are some texts that I sent Hema. I’m just copying and pasting them here because they exactly show how I was feeling then.
[11:47 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: I can’t. [11:47 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: It’s so unbelievable. [11:47 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: And BTS are so pure man. [11:48 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: They kept talking about pushing harder than they can almost bear because one day they can’t do this even if they want to. [11:48 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: They spoke about how much energy the ARMY gave them. [11:48 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: That in concerts etc just seeing ARMY’s eyes light up, seeing them, was enough to give them energy. [11:49 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: They spoke about how they’re all very unique but through the years grew together. [11:49 PM, 11/25/2018] Hem: Omg [11:49 PM, 11/25/2018] Sumedha: They’re not themselves anymore.
And then after that I still had so much to say so I gave up typing and just sent her a voice recording. I was already emotional and TALKING about them got me to cry in the recording. I legit could not speak without sniffing and my voice wavering.
The movie was THAT GOOD. It was so emotional. Even now I’m becoming emotional just thinking about it. I’m very close to tearing up again.
They spoke about how they’re not just them as individuals anymore. They’re now part of BTS, and each of them are an integral part of BTS.
We are Kim Nam-joon, Kim Seok-jin, Kim Tae-hyung, Jung Ho-seok, Jeon Jung-kook, Park Jimin and Min Yoon-gi. These names feel awkward. We are now RM, Jin, V, J-Hope, Jungkook, Jimin and Suga.
-Suga, Burn The Stage. (I’m not exactly sure but the lines were something like this.)
RM spoke about how they still find joy in being with each other, even though they do it all the time.
There are so many feels running through me right now, just by remembering the movie. I’m currently listening to Spring Day because it’s perfect for such moods. It’s also a beautiful song.
(side note: as I’m writing this part it’s December 4th, Jin’s birthday, and Jin just came live. It’s so funny oh my lord, they took Jin’s profile picture to the next level, more than ARMY. BTS and ARMY are all crackheads.)
My friends’ thoughts
I think I’ve spoken enough now. I can keep going on but I better stop now.
I asked my friends to write a little bit about the movie and the experience so I can add it here, just so you know that it’s not just me who is this emotional.
Sabby said:
This movie was so inspirational, motivational, and beautiful. It really showed a whole other side of BTS, what pure beings they are that made me love them even more and I’m so so so proud to be an army. I laughed, cried, oohed and awwed along with everyone in the theater and it was such an experience. And meeting the finally found fam(ARMYs) gave me a whole new level of happiness. We are a fam only coz of BTS. BTS is not just a kpop group. Basically they are THE kpop group. No one has done it like them. They’ve helped and connected with so many people including myself and they are perfectly imperfect. They’re just as beautiful on stage as they are off-stage. I wish I could watch the movie again, it was worth the struggle :”) Never thought I would be so connected with 7 people I’ve never met before. I love them with all my heart and they deserve all the love in this world💜😭
Swetha said:
Burn the stage… this movie was wow, seeing the boys on the big screen was a totally different experience, I loved the narration, it really hits you right in the feels, especially when yoongi says “sometimes we see ourselves in the crowd there with y’all”. I mean how beautiful is that. The movie was an emotional roller coaster, like one minute you’ll be thinking “bts is working to death are they really happy?” and feel sad and the next minute its all of them jumping and pushing each other into a pool😂 but the best part about this movie was that it showed how strong BTS is as a group and how much bts genuinely cares for army. We are inseparable.
Source: btsspain.es
Overall, the movie was amazing. The meetup other ARMYs just made the experience even better. It was one of the best days of the year, for me.
Even if you’re not a BTS fan, I definitely suggest watching the movie because it’s just a documentary which is beautiful. It’s not specifically targeted at ARMYs. It’s worth a watch, ARMY or not.
If you’ve stayed so long and read this bloody long post, kudos to you. And thank you.
Have you seen Burn The Stage? Are you a fan of BTS?
I don’t know about you but I have a hard time remembering books. Names, authors, characters, covers and the whole plot. Give me two months and my current read will be reduced to three lines in my brain’s storage space.* And I hate this.
There are so many situations in which I’m left mumbling because I DON’T REMEMBER. And I’ll be honest, it’s a little embarrassing. There’s ONE thing I love to do—reading. I have read quite a number of books as well. And I’m not amused when it all becomes mush in my brain.
*Can you see the Computer Science student in me showing?
One of my best friends* came over so I could use her phone to take bookstagram pictures. While I was taking pictures, we had this following conversation which I tweeted about as well**:
Bff: How do you remember all the books you've read? The stories? Me: I DON'T! AND THIS IS A LIFE PROBLEM!! #bookwormproblems
*I have three. They’re all very wonderful and I would set aside my book to listen to their day. But because they’re awesome and they know me they wouldn’t disturb me and this is why they’re my best friends.
**Speaking of, follow me on twitter for more such quality content.
So this got me thinking: why is this a life problem? I started thinking about the situations in which good memory would help us bookworms. And here we are.
[1] When someone is reading a book you recommended/ you’ve read and they talk about it
Me to them: UM YEAH I TOTALLY AGREE WOW SO SURPRISING RIGHT
Me in my head: WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?? THIS EVEN HAPPENED???
Honestly, though. Other than the fact that I loved so-and-so book I remember nothing? If you came to me and started talking about a book I read last year, I would keep quiet and let you rant until I can gather the plot in my head using whatever you say and THEN I would talk.
#smart?
[2] When writing a review/giving an opinion about a book
If it’s been over one month, I’ll remember maybe 50%. Over two months and I’ll be proud of myself if I remember the characters’ NAMES.
I have a tendency to review a bunch of books in one sitting after letting them pile up for a long time and I struggle to remember what they were about! I sometimes make notes so that’s helpful but most times I sit here trying to remember what those books where about.
If only my memory was better. This is why I don’t do good in exams for subjects which require you to remember theory as it is in the textbook. I’d like to protest on behalf of us who have picture memories.
[3] When in a conversation about a topic you’ve read in a book
For example: Greek Gods. I’ve read about them in Rick Riordan books! I know this! But when I try to think of facts? All I remember is that Hera was jealous Zeus cheated, Poseidon is quite cool and Hades is uber cool because he’s the God of… something dark and sinister? OH WAIT HE’S THE GOD OF DEATH. RIGHT.
See! If I said all of that out loud I would seem so weird and I wouldn’t make friends at all. #fail
[4] When a friend asks you something because you’re part of that fandom
OKAY SO a friend of mine hasn’t read The Mortal Instruments and about a year back she randomly asked me if any character in it was called “Biscuit” because she saw a fandom textpost and wanted to know who it was.
I said no. I thought there maybe someone who was called “Bucket” but not “Biscuit”.
CLARY, THE MAIN CHARACTER, WAS NICKNAMED BISCUIT.
When she found that out through Google and got back to me I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide forever. Here TMI was—is—my main fandom and I didn’t even know this.
To be fair, I read TMI in 10th grade which was four years back but STILL. I should know, right?! After that I’ve been considering rereading the series but it’s long and I hate the main character so I haven’t.
(I guess Bucket was from a different book series? I still don’t know?) (#fail)
[5] When writing a bookish meme/tag post
Almost every time I do a tag or a Top Ten Tuesday post I consult my Goodreads. Not kidding.
When asked, my mind blanks about all the books I’ve read and I’m like ???????????
When I do a whole post without consulting Goodreads or my physical shelf, I’m proud of myself. It’s an achievement.
My reviews help. To know what I thought about that book and whether I can talk about it in the post or not. My reviews help me probably more than anyone else. It’s like a record of my thoughts.
[6] When recommending a book and the person asks what it is about
I have a mini panic attack right there. Shifty wide eyes, nervous hands, playing with hair, lots of “um um um”.
For example: Dan Brown books. I’ve read all of them (except Origin) and I really liked them but I remember NOTHING. Legit nothing. So when I recommend his books to someone and they ask me what it’s about? I open Goodreads. Or I use my go-to reply: “Just read it! I’m not spoiling it for you.”
Nice, eh? I seem like I know everything and intentionally don’t tell you when actually I have no idea. #smart
[7] When the sequel comes out
This is a universal problem. This is why recap blogs EXIST. Because we remember nothing from the previous book and our only choices are (1) reread the previous book(s) or (2) read the recap.
If I don’t do either of those..
Me: WHO ARE YOU? WHO IS THAT PERSON? WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?? Okay, I gotta stop over-reacting. They’re probably new.
Main character: “I remember when X and I did this two months back..”
Me: Wait, WHAT?? THIS PERSON EXISTED IN THE LAST BOOK???
I’m basically hopeless. It’s like reading a series from the middle.*
*I hear some people actually do that? Like, how bro? I struggle even when I’ve read the previous books?!
[8] When someone asks you to recommend a book with so-and-so theme/plot line in it
Okay first of all, HI I’M SUMEDHA AND I REMEMBER NOTHING.
Two, you’re asking me to go backwards? Name a book from the story? That’s like throwing me in an unknown place without telling me which direction will lead me to a known place.
I’ll stay lost.
And expecting me to recommend a good book amongst all those possibilities? Hon, you’ll be lucky if I manage to trudge up one name from my brain even remotely related to what you’re asking for.
[9] When you’re asked ANY question about your recent reads
“What was the last book you read?” (Okay this isn’t very hard but I still struggle with it, okay?)
“Which was the last book you rated 5 stars?”
“Which was the last book you DNFed?”
And so on.
I will mildly panic for all these as well.
[10] When someone comes to you on book knowledge
If you read a lot, your friends and people you’re in frequent contact with will know that. So one day if they’re doubtful about what happened in a book or to ask in which book so-and-so plot was, they’ll come to you because OBVIOUSLY you’ll know!
This has happened to me more than once. And guess what? I DON’T know. I knew the basic stuff like “What was GOT’s author’s name?” and “What’s that movie about cancer?” Easy peazy lemon squeezy.
But ask me things like “What was that emotional speech this person said to her friend about?” or “Who was this character’s boyfriend’s name?” and all I’ll be thinking about is how to say I don’t know and yet seem approachable for other book-related questions.
Honorary mention: When you have to do well academically as well
I have a question for everyone who manages to read lots of books, actually remember them and STILL manage to ace tests/exams: HOW.
Sometimes I sit in the exam hall thinking about a book plot rather than the working of ALU in computers. Can you see my dilemma here??
During my math final last month, I was trying and struggling to remember a proof but instead all that was running through my head was the plot of Roomies by Christina Lauren. I was thinking about what I liked/didn’t like and was saddened that I didn’t have any paper to note down my thoughts for the review!
It’ll be a miracle if my result says Pass. In fact, it’s a miracle I’ve managed to pass all my exams until now.
It’s all the potential situations above, and probably more that don’t come to mind right now, that I really wish I could remember better. I want to have that all-knowing book person reputation, okay? Is that too much to ask?
Tell me, do YOU wish you could remember books better? Or do you actually manage to remember everything? Have you ever been in one of the situations I’ve mentioned above? Are there any more situations you could think of? Do you reread books before the sequel comes out or do you read recaps? Tell me everything!
For 99%* of us bookworms, books define us. Book characters are who we are and book worlds are our worlds. And bleeding from all those influences, reading habits are pretty noticeable considering we read ALL THE TIME.
*I assume there are some bookworms who actually manage to NOT be a made up of parts of all the books they’ve read, because they’re somehow immune?? HOW? They’re the “Divergent” of us. But I’m assuming they make up only 1%.
I saw this tag over at reviewsbysavi and it looked pretty cool (plus this blogmas is making me run out of ideas a little) so I’m doing it as well!
Bookmarks or a random piece of paper
First of all, where would I find a random piece of paper from?? I’ll have to tear it from somewhere, and where would that be? THE BOOK? Nope nope nopity nope. I use bookmarks and I love bookmarks.
I used to remember the page numbers but in senior year of high school academics started turning my brain into mush and made me dependent on bookmarks.
Most of my bookmarks are from Amazon which I received along with books I ordered, but I do have a couple I made myself. There was this one bookmark that I received from an author as part of a giveaway which was only printed one side, so I used the other side to paint a background and wrote A Crown of Midnight in calligraphy. Guess what? While selling back a book to a second-hand bookstore, I LEFT THE BOOKMARK IN IT. I FORGOT ABOUT IT. And now someone else has it and I hope they’re using it well, or they left it in the book for more people to use. I just hope it hasn’t gotten destroyed or thrown somewhere 😦
Stop reading randomly or stop after a chapter/certain amount of pages
Neither but I guess I lean more towards randomly? If I have a choice of stopping and I’ve got nothing to do, I try to stop at a point where there’s no suspense—whether that’s in the middle or at the end of a chapter. But I’ve noticed that usually authors try to end chapters with small cliffhangers so I try not to wait till that and just stop wherever.
If I stop when something AMAZING is happening or there’s a cliffhanger/big reveal, I will think about it every second until I pick up the book again, and that is not productive.
Certain place at home for reading?
When at home, I usually read while sitting or lying on my bed but that’s because it’s the only proper place to sit in my room and I’m almost always in my room than the rest of the house.
But recently with college, I’ve been reading more during classes than at home because I’m either blogging or doing assignments at home—leaving hardly any time to read. While in the classes I’m anyway not paying attention in, I try to read discretely. *shrug* Gotta do what ya gotta do.
Eat or drink while reading?
Generally neither because it could go in two ways:
I forget about the food/drink because I’m to engrossed in the book and my beverage became cold.
I pay way more attention to what I’m eating than reading because the book is boring.
Either way, not effective.
But if I HAD to choose, I’d go with beverage. I’m really careful while drinking or eating with books nearby and more often than not, crumbles fall on the book and I HATE that. Easier to manage drinking and making sure the liquid doesn’t fall on the book.
Music or TV while reading?
Funny story*, a few years back I was reading the newspaper (back when I actually used to) and saw a picture of a girl reading with earphones in her ears. I was so confused about how she could pay attention to the book with music in her ears. I really get into music as well so if music was played, more often than not my attention would be split. I even wondered out loud to my mom and she basically didn’t care so she gave a mediocre “I don’t know” reply and went back to her work.
But several months after that incident, I put in earphones while reading a book and I found that with the right kind of music, you can block out other sounds and still read with concentration.
I listen to music while reading when there’s a lot of noise, but it’s not preferred. And a definite NO to TV**.
*Or not funny, whatever
**Not that I actually even watch TV. When I want to watch shows, I just binge them online. Only my dad watches TV regularly (for news) and mom switches it on everyday to let devotional songs play out loud in the morning/evenings.
One book at a time or several?
I used to be a strictly one book gal until recently, but for the last few weeks I’ve taken to reading more than one. Probably because one is an ebook, one a paperback and another a beta-read situation.
I usually stick to one book because when I start one, I’m too absorbed in it. I finish reading pretty fast and then move on to the next book. The only exceptions are when a book is REALLY boring that I’ll have to pause it and read something else. More often than not I end up DNFing that book I paused (which is what happened to King’s Cage, which I haven’t picked up ever again).
Reading at home or everywhere?
I have always been reading everywhere, whenever I can. This has especially been facilitated by the existence of ebooks and also last benches in class where I can read books with the people in front of me covering the book from the teacher #skills
But when I can, I try to carry a paperback around with me and read. When I had a membership in the local library, I used to read all day long and go every day to exchange and issue a new book. Can’t do that if I have a preference for home.
My only issue is not reading in moving vehicles because it gives me a headache. But this also means that nowadays when I spend two hours a day travelling back and forth from college, I can’t utilise those travel hours. I end up listening to my bus playlist and sleeping lol.
Reading out loud or silently?
Silently, always. I read faster when it’s in my head and I’m not reading out loud.
However, sometimes when I’m alone, I like to read out loud and jump into character even more. I day the dialogues to try to become the character and say the way they say it. (And there you have some embarrassing fact about me; I’m gonna regret putting this out to the world, aren’t I?)(meh)
Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?
Back when I first started REALLY getting into reading, my mom spoke about when she and her sister used to inhale books like they were air. She said that for almost every book she used to read the first chapter, last few pages/chapter and then read the book properly. So she already knows the ending,
My question to her was: what is the point of reading then???? WHAT ABOUT THE FEELS? Yeah she’s one of those “I’d like to remain sane thanks bye” types. Muggles.
So no, I don’t read ahead or skip pages. How much ever I want to skip pages, I don’t but I am guilty of skim reading which I do quite often when I’m bored with the book/part.
Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?
Obviously keeping it like new!! BUT, I do agree that it’s hard to not break the spine, especially since I mostly read paperbacks. I’m too engrossed in the book to care about spines. *shrug* I do become disappointed when I notice the broken spine later on, though.
Do you write in your books?
I don’t! I religiously don’t and I try not to have open pens around so there are no random scratches as well. If I do want to note down something, though, I use sticky notes. I’ve got quite a few of them and this is why I bought them*.
Sometimes I also stick tabs and write down in a notebook with the page number as reference to where the comment goes. But this is usually for reviews only.
*Not really but this is the best use, don’t you think?
What are YOUR reading habits? Do you share any of them in common with me? Do you religiously use bookmarks as well? Do you listen to music or watch TV while reading? What are other reading habits that you think matter (to us anyway)?
I’m pretty sure what most people (including me) actually want to do is lie around, have money come to us without doing anything, eat and sleep. Oh and maybe watch YouTube sometimes. All we want to do is BE LAZY.
But despite all of this, I am actually a productivity-oriented person. Only if I’ve been productive in the day I feel good. Excluding the days I go out and have fun. In short, I just want to do a lot of stuff in a day. I don’t count going to classes and mandatory things towards being productive. Only work that I have to do voluntarily or on my own time (yes I count assignments because they’re “not mandatory” :P)
Basically, I’m holding myself accountable for working on doing more everyday and cultivate daily habits by documenting this online.*
*Let’s see if this actually makes me do the things.
[1] Wake up before 8:30am on holidays
Oh look. The first point and I’m already straying from the “everyday”. But to be fair, I wake up around 6am on college days.
I’m a night owl person, okay? But lately I’ve been getting so lazy at night and don’t do anything except finish assignments and college work that are due the next day.* I actually get SO much done when I wake up earlier because I’ve got more time, you know what I mean? It feels like I’ve really got 16 hours in the day instead of a meager 8 when I wake late.
*I do most of my college work the night before and procrastinate away time until then. I legit left a a small project off until the night before even though I was told about it 3 weeks in advance. #winningatlife
[2] Make my bed
I actually do this on holidays because when my bed is all neat, I’m less inclined to curl up in blankets and fall back asleep, and as you know I want to be productive in my day. But throughout the week when I’ve got college, the blankets are just left messy. It’s because I get up around 6 and rush to get ready so I can catch the bus at 6:50, which doesn’t leave room for me to have a proper breakfast*, let alone make my bed.
And hence, once I get back home about 12 hours later, I fall into bed after changing into PJs and lie there doing nothing for about an hour. Nice. *rolls eyes*
*for real tho, I don’t have a proper breakfast. Only half a bowl of cornflakes partly because of time and also cuz I simply don’t like eating that early. It makes my stomach queasy.
[3] Read the newspaper
I legit know nothing what’s going on around me. The only things I know are from seeing social media, and everyone on there either doesn’t follow/post about news either or they’re from other places on the world. This is NOT good. I really should read the newspaper. I’m about.. three years behind on news. I read the newspaper everyday for a few months in 10th grade and felt so knowledgeable* and now I’m just clueless.**
*lol
**ask me anything. I won’t know it. Not kidding.
[4] Blog
Fun fact, I used to publish blog posts everyday. That was waay over a year ago.
I’m not saying I want to publish posts everyday, but I just want to do small bits everyday that add up. Because planning, writing up the post, taking photos for it, editing them and making graphics cannot be done at one stretch. I don’t usually have that much time together (or the mood to do all of them). This would make it so much easier. Right now, I’m only blogging on Sundays. It means I have to write up two/three posts on Sundays and do the photos etc during the week and add them to the post using my phone.*
*lol y’all gonna think either I’m exaggerating or that I put too much effort. It’s fine. Just that I’d rather sleep? But I also want to blog?? I’m saying I want to blog while sleeping. Yes, that’s it.
[5] Go out
I HARDLY go out. And I count going to the store to buy stationary for it. This is because my first goal is to get out and see the world. If I had a few days of holidays together, I would probably forget to step out of the house unless I had some work or friends dragged me out to hang.* K bro.**
*I have a long long way to go in life. In the last two weeks alone I’ve been told by people in college quite a few times that I should talk and include myself in things more.
**I wish there was a GIF for this. I googled. I didn’t find any. Someone make for me plis. Thenks. I use K Bro so much, it should be a GIF for me.
[6] Write/journal
You know, I used to write? Like, poetry and short stories?* And I even attempted at writing a novel? I went to about 13k words and then it just lies somewhere in my files untouched and very mad at me.
I haven’t written ANYTHING for more than 6 months. All my creative thinking is going for my blog, maybe? Also I don’t have the time. That’s just sad.
And if not writing, I want to journal about my day or something. Get my thoughts down. It might get me started towards writing again? I don’t know.
*I even posted some on this blog. There are categories for this in the footer. They just might be the last of my writing legacy. Sigh.
[7] Learn something new
College intimidates me. I meet all these people who know so much about many things, are actively learning more than what is being taught in classes, going to workshops and taking up projects etc. And I’m just reading. I also don’t know half the things they talk about and I. AM. INTIMIDATED.
I want to learn, but I don’t have the time for it. But now, looking at everyone else, I’m determined to learn on my own. Even if it’s basic things that everyone already knows and I can’t show off about it. The “I don’t have time” excuse isn’t—shouldn’t be—acceptable.* I want to learn something new, on my own, everyday. Even if it’s small bits.
*Someone hold me accountable plis.
[8] Workout
Even when other people say this to me, I fee like laughing because hardly some ACTUALLY do it. I want to laugh even more looking at ME saying it.
I worked out once for 15 days straight in December. Then the situation of my leg wound became worse and I was ordered bed rest, and that was that. I started up again by bringing my best friends on it too. My streak was spotty*. Not everyday, but I did work out for a couple months like that. I haven’t since about a week before college started. I wish I did some form of exercise everyday, but I’m STILL clueless about when I would. Because if I’m not lying on bed after getting home from college, I’m doing something for the blog fast fast before starting on college work. Or I’m simply reading.**
*quite spotty
**oh look I’m already making excuses before I start exercising. I’m hopeless.
So.. yeah that’s it. Going over this is being way too ambitious. Aand I really should go start on one of my three assignments. Oh goody.*
*Is it just me, or am I mentioning my college work a bit too much in post?
What are some things that YOU wish you did everyday? Are any I mentioned on your list as well? What’s stopping you from achieving them? Like, really. Stop reading this, GET UP and go do those things! (JK please still find time to read my blog thenks)
Hello. It’s me. I’m drowning in pending book reviews. But here’s a tag for you to see.
Do you know the problem with reading books very fast? And being a book blogger? You want to review most of them, but you can’t post so many reviews a day? And I don’t want to bore y’all with consecutive book reviews only?? Also there’s so much more I want to post about, since my blog isn’t only about books???
(Move on already)
I saw this tag over at Howling Libraries and it looked nice so I decided I’ll do it. She didn’t tag me, but who cares, really? 😛
In front of the computer, usually. I prefer blogging on the desktop nowadays as I can do the graphics as well at the same time.
Otherwise, if I want to be more comfortable and have to only type, I blog on my phone. I don’t do this a lot, but when I want to blog, but I’m just not feeling it in that room, I blog on my phone. I make the graphics on another day, if required. I hate blogging on the WordPress app, so I usually just do it in the browser, as I am now.
How long does it generally take you to write a book review?
Typing up the review? Half an hour to an hour, depending on whether I’m multi-tasking or not.
I usually take a few days to a few weeks to type up the review after I read the book, as I’m busy or whatever. So when I sit down to type, I go back and try to remember everything and then give a proper review. Therefore, it takes a while.
(I am currently 11 book reviews behind. #help)
When did you start your book blog?
(Not technically only a book blog. I don’t stick to a niche.)
I started on January 16th, 2016. It’s been a year and a half and I still love blogging ❤ It was meant to be only for reviews but I digress.
What is the worst thing about having a book blog in your opinion?
I want to review everything. Well, almost everything.
As I read quite fast, and I love to read a lot, I pick up books immediately after finishing the previous one. And whether I like the book or not, I’ll usually want to review them and I simply don’t have the time to review all of them.
And speaking personally, I know that only reading reviews is boring. I like to change up between posts and talk about different things. This also means that I can’t post all the reviews soon after I read them, and I schedule them for a later (and sometimes WAY later) date.
There’s also the constant comparison between other blogs and mine. I LOVE reading blog posts and reviews where the writing is comical, jovial and fun to read. How much ever I try, I tend to be more formal and serious in my reviews, no matter how much I wish my writing was fun. So yeah, confidence levels are always bobbing up and down.
(Wait, was I supposed to say only one thing? Meh, it’s okay.)
What is the best thing about having a book blog in your opinion?
I can talk about books all I want. I can vent, rant, rave, whatever—how much ever I want to. Granted, I don’t do it much since I usually rant WHILE READING to my best friends, but I can.
I also love the book blogging community, which kinda comes like a bonus. True, there are issues and debates popping up all the time. But I love that there’s a whole COMMUNITY of people wanting to talk about books. ❤
(Again, didn’t stick to one point, did I?)
What blog post have you had the most fun writing so far?
I do have some that I had a lot of fun writing.. but I can’t choose ONE. Plus, some of them won’t fit the book blogging category so.. let’s move on to the next question 😛
What is your favorite type of blog post to write?
Other than the reviews where I rant/rave to my heart’s content? Discussion posts.
If we’re talking about book-blogging categories, I think my favourites are the Top Ten Tuesday memes. TTT is the first meme I’ve ever done (and doing) and it includes 2 things I really love:
Books and
Lists
When do you typically write?
During the semester, mostly on Sunday mornings. I jot down ideas and notes throughout the week on blog posts and type them up on blogging-sprees on Sundays. I schedule them for the next open dates.
Otherwise, just when I’ve got a few hours consecutively since I like doing more than one post per sitting. This also includes the graphics and updating my review index and such.
Do you review every book you read?
If I did, I’d either have to publish a review a day (at least), or I’ll have scheduled reviews months in advance. Not trying to brag, but I’m quite close to achieving my Goodreads reading challenge 2017 which I set to 150 books.
No, I don’t review all the books I read, but I wish I could.
How do you write your book reviews? With a cup of coffee or tea? With Netflix? Cuddled with your fur baby?
On those Sunday mornings, I blog right after breakfast so nothing to eat. But if I’ve been blogging for well over an hour, I get a drink for myself.
I usually blog with music in the background. Only sometimes does the music distract me, so it’s fine.
How often do you post?
Once in two or three days. I used to blog everyday before college began, but I quickly adapted (and loved) the scheduling ahead system. This way, if a certain week is very hectic for me, I don’t have to worry as I’ve scheduled for it in advance.
And I tag everyone because all of you are special little unicorns who deserve to be tagged.
What’s your blogging life like? Do you relate with any of my answers? Let me know your answers to all of them below, or do the tag and link me up to it! 🙂
A while back, my dad tried to persuade me (again) to go out and socialise or pick up another hobby which doesn’t make me sit in one place and be lazy all day. I think he’s kind of jealous that I can be lazy and still be doing something. (He isn’t a fan of reading)
After he gave up and went out for some work, I began to come up with a list of why reading is better than sports or art. To make myself better and have an imaginary debate with my dad in my head, as you do.
I mainly thought of these points as opposed to hobbies of art or athletic nature. I mean absolutely no offence if either/both are included in your hobbies. I just thought of this for fun.
Onto the list, now.
[1] No special talent required
You just read! All you need is a book (or Kindle). Now with audiobooks? It’s even easier.
You might not be good at dancing, singing, even drawing stick figures but you CAN read like a boss.
I’m one of those people who can do something part-way but is not extremely good at it. I can doodle, but not OH-MY-GOODNESS amazingly. I run very bad (I honestly feel that I’m saving others from a horrible sight by staying at home). Reading is pretty much the best hobby I could ever pick.
[2] Can be done in a snuggly, comfortable position
Preferably with a drink, and covered in a blanket.
Art projects generally require a clean(ish) space, or at least a proper area like a desk and chair. You can’t put your feet up or change positions much. With sports, what is comfort if not sweat and exertion, right?
But reading can be done curled up on a sofa or even during travel! I read even between classes in college (sometimes during class too, but hush that’s top secret).
[3] No cleanliness issues
With art and sports, you have to clean up in the end—whether it’s yourself or your surroundings. No such issues with reading.
I might not be really good at it, but I do doodle, sketch and paint. I HATE painting because I have to clean up in the end. Plus, I’m one of those people who have to clean up immediately and set everything in it’s place. Therefore, after two hours of painting and finally ending up with something which looks like it’s been made by a second-grader, I spend more energy cleaning up immediately. I LIKE BEING LAZY. DON’T MAKE ME DO THIS.
Speaking of..
[4] You can BE LAZY
Reading is probably the only hobby where you can be completely lazy.
Is that not a winning point?
True, there’s the tiny issue that if you love a book/series, you immediately join the fandom, write fanfics, having debates over storylines and fangirl all over social media (and possibly lose your sanity). All of that does not involve being lazy. BUT. You don’t have to do it, so you’re good. *Innocent smile*
Also me:
*Pushes a book to your face* *I HOPE YOU READ THIS AND LOVE THIS AND COME SCREAMING TO MY HOUSE AT 1AM AND FANGIRL WITH ME*
*Cough* Moving on.
[5] You learn A LOT
No matter what book you read, from whichever genre, there’s always some new information that you absorb. Whether it’s about an issue, science theory, history fact, a culture or even about a city you’ve never been to. Not to mention, your vocabulary and language skills improve. People go to CLASSES for that. You can just get it by reading.
OKAY I JUST REALISED SOMETHING. WHY ARE BOOKWORMS CALLED NERDS? IT’S BECAUSE AFTER READING SO MUCH WE KNOW SO MUCH INFORMATION, IT MIGHT AS WELL BE THAT WE STUDIED THAT TOPIC. (Or I could be connecting random things and trying to shout eureka) (do you blame me?)
[6] You can never go wrong with reading
There’s nothing “right” or “doing well” at it. Absolutely no specific talent involved. You just read.
And the very helpful translators of our world take pains to translate books so people from other language backgrounds can read it so WHAT IS THERE TO COMPLAIN? BOOKS ARE THE BEST THINGS EVER TO HAPPEN TO US. (And I’m starting to fangirl over the fact that books exist) (again, do you blame me?)
[7] You can bring books into conversations and seem all smart
(Or you might actually be smart, no offence)
Tell me this isn’t an advantage. You could state a fact, say “I read it in a book the other day” and BOOM! People are impressed by your knowledge. The book could have actually been of romance. But they don’t know that! You just said how long it takes to go from one city to another driving! This could also give you a nerdy or knowledgeable vibe, if you’re going for it.
[8] Having multiple hobbies is easier when one of them is reading
You literally have to do NOTHING but read! ANY amount of spare time works!
[9] You can still “read” without a book
These new inventions called Kindle, ebooks and audiobooks with BLOW YOUR MIND. (It was meant to sound a bit sarcastic, I think?) (I don’t even know what I mean) (#fail)
You can read/listen to a book while doing something else. It still counts! Don’t have time to go to the bookstore/library? Technology to the rescue! Ebooks are aplenty.
(Is it just me or does this feel like I’m trying to pitch technology to you?) (Can this count as good points to convince non-bookworms to read?)
[10] Lastly, it improves your imagination
You would argue that art also involves imagination. But in art, you create with your imagination (or Pinterest inspiration, who am I to say anything?).
While reading books, you have you set up a 360° set for every scene with details and characters and also keep up with many scenes throughout the book. The facts aren’t up to you. And it’s not something you can easily refer back to. It’s all IN YOU HEAD.
Do you understand HOW MUCH we imagine? (Did I just blow your mind with your awesomeness? You’re welcome.) (Otherwise, #fail_part_2)
Safe to say, by now I’m even more in love with reading. I have done so well in life by picking this hobby. (*pats self in the back*) (I just realized I’m not very agile because my pat is awkward) (should probably exercise after this post instead of going back to read another book) (but the questions is) (will I?)
I’m just kidding. I have a final tomorrow to study for. Adiós, peeps!
Is reading one of your hobbies? What other hobbies do you have? Are there any other advantages to reading as a hobby that I’ve missed? Which point from the above do you relate with? Let me know below (so we can scream in joy together over our life choices)!
Since I’m now 18 and need to learn stuff (because I’m a spoiled, coddled butterfruit who doesn’t know anything in life), I thought I’d take you along with me on this journey which will be filled with failed attempts.
Disclaimer: I don’t know anything and the most I’m expecting you to get from this is a few chuckles. And that’s me being optimistic.
1. How much ever you think you can figure it all out yourself, you can’t.
Not completely, at least. You need guidance. So take my advice and don’t reject help from your parents and elders. Do NOT proclaim that you don’t need them anymore because you are an adult *cough* cuz ya do. Later you’ll be ashamed and too proud to go back for help. Ultimately, your loss.
Otherwise, you need to put internet on your phone and be a whiz at google search and know what to search exactly. And be willing to spend 15 minutes seeing all results and still ending up confused, doing something wrong and having to rectify it with more difficultly. *phew* But hey, if you’re someone who has a lot of time, patience, perseverance and prefers learning yourself by making mistakes, go for it and say I’M QUEEN. I DON’T NEED PEASANTS.
2. Invest in a power bank for your devices.
It’ll be very handy. Trust me. One of the perks: you can be lazy and don’t have to stand next to the plug point to chat nonsense with your friends while it’s charging. Another is that you can charge your phone on the go and don’t have to panic away from home which might result in a heart attack. Let’s face it, you can’t survive without your phone. HOW WILL YOU EVER FUNCTION? No, that can not happen.
No matter how many times you say you can survive without your phone, be realistic. Stop kidding. The only thing you can do when it’s dead is pretend you’re on a call while walking past someone you want to avoid, and show as if you didn’t notice them to avoid conversation because you don’t like talking to people either. ugh. people. In case it ever comes to that situation, do remember to keep your phone upright because if it’s upside down, it’ll be a massive fail. This happens all the time in TV. Let’s not be as dumb as them.
Another plus point is that there will be no problems when you’re working or something. But that’s not more important than our laziness. pfft.
3. LEARN FROM TV.
We laugh, giggle and make fun of those characters when they make mistakes and have to rectify it. But from next time, remember those mistakes and what to really do because in the back of your mind you know that you can make the same stupid mistake.
You can also watch TV shows and movies while telling everyone you’re “preparing for the real world”. You are. It’s honest research, I say. Listen to me. I know nothing all.
And that’s all for the first installment! I shall keep you updated on anything I learn which will change your life. Adios for now! Are you an adult? If yes, how were your first few years as a MAJOR citizen? Do you have any tips to share? Do help us lost little cinnamon rolls who are only now dealing with the real world. If you’re not an adult, are you waiting to be so you can proclaim yourself sovereign and SET OUT TO THE WOOORLD? Or do you wish you could stay minor just a bit longer?
Hey everyone! We are almost at the end of #BirthMonth and I wanted to post something to trigger YOUR memories.
Now, life isn’t just close friends and family and our significant other. There are so many relationships in life, and friendships are the most diverse of them. There are many types of friendships, and today I’m trying to put the most distinct ones in a list. As you read, think about those people in your life who hold that position, remember memories, and perhaps reach out to them after reading this post. Hopefully this will make you smile and maybe a little nostalgic 🙂
1. The best friends
This HAD to be the first one on the list, obviously. Best friends are our God’s gifts on earth and they are your rocks, your baes, those who will ALWAYS listen to your nonsense again and again even if they’re not interested just because it makes you happy. You can’t go a day without speaking to them, and if you do, you feel strange and as if you’re missing a part of yourself. Even if you don’t go to the same school or work at the same place, you make enough effort to meet very often and sometimes, two days without meeting them feels like two months. Have you showered some love on your best friends lately?
P.S. I love Peyton and Booke’s friendship.
2. More than your average friend, but not exactly your best friend
You know those friends whom you always connect to? You might not say everything to each other, or even speak so often, but when you do, you speak freely and with heart. You can have them in different areas of your life, the ones in school, college, coaching classes and from your music or dance classes. All of them were your closest friends during that time and in those areas, but are not your complete best friends.
3. The “oh, okay” friends
These are those friends that are mostly friends of friends, whom you’re not really close to but also know a lot about due to common friends. If you meet them, you both hesitate for a second and then talk, because you don’t really have a bond of your own. You would most likely say hi and move on or make small talk for the sake of courtesy.
4. The life-long friendship
The friendship between two people right from when they were born to the day they die. Hiccups in between or not, they will be friends in the end. If you have a friend whom you’ve known all your life and are not on speaking terms with them now, maybe you could reach out to them. Because in the end, there aren’t many friends who have known you all your life. Even if you aren’t best friends, you’re like crib-siblings, and you’ll always have a special bond.
5. The friend you just can’t get rid of
That one person you’re not sure why you don’t like, or maybe you do know, but they never get the hint that you’re not interested in having a friendship with them. You go out of your way to avoid and ignore them, but cluelessly they’ll still find you. It’s kind of adorable on their part, that they want to be your friend so much. If there is someone like that, maybe try to be their friend? It could turn out to be a solid friendship as they’re not letting you go.
6. The ex-friend but yet friend at heart
I’m talking about that friend whom you’ve separated with, whom you hardly talk to anymore and miss them and the friendship you two had. This might be due to misunderstanding or the simple fact that both of you changed and the close bond you had just isn’t anymore. If only one of you took the initiative to reach out, you could still be friends, if not best friends *wink*
7. That friend you thought you’d be best friends with forever
We all grow up and this causes people to grow out of friendships too. When you were five, there was nothing that could come between you two and you made forever promises to each other. But, it wasn’t meant to be. You both have other best friends and being around each other might be a bit awkward. All you do is smile at each other, with memories playing in your mind, and move on.
8. That friend you just clicked with in one moment
You met and *BAM* you suddenly cannot live without each other. You don’t know why you just feel so comfortable with this person. Both of you opened up yourselves right from the start and listened to each other. You went from strangers to close friends in one minute 😉
9. The friend whom you don’t remember meeting
You try to think back to when you met and how you became friends, what you said etc but you just can’t remember! You can remember the days before meeting them and the days when they were your friend, but meeting for the first time, saying hi and actually deciding to sit together in class or going to work together? That’s a blind spot in your memory.
10. The imaginary friend
We all had an imaginary at some point in our lives, mostly during our childhood. You spoke to the air, or your soft toy, taking them to be real active human beings, dreaming them talking and listening to you. We grew out of our imaginary friends, but I can remember fondly when I used to have an imaginary friend.
11. The online friends
We all have online friends, especially if we’re active on the internet with a corner of our own. From blogging, vlogging, that anonymous chat room, that online multi-player game etc—we have made friends. And we love them as equally as real life friends too. What if you’ve never seen each other’s faces in reality? What if you’ve never watched a movie with popcorn in a theater together? You know each other inside out, know the problems and highs and lows and the important things. You’re good friends!
12. Penpals
You might or might not have a penpal, but it feels oh, so good, to open a letter from someone living far away, who is taking the time to build a friendship with you through paper. We hardly write letters, finding emailing or chatting through an app better. But being penpals with someone is a totally different and lovely feeling. Reading someone’s stories in their handwriting makes you feel closer to them.
13. Friends who forget you when they get into a relationship
This hurts, and I’m not going to sugar coat it. You two were buddies way before they met their significant other and suddenly being left for that new person they hardly know? That stings. There are also those who say they would never put a romantic relationship before friendship, but actually do it when the time comes. You just have to let go and move on, not waiting for them to come back. If the relationship ends, they’ll come to you, but you can’t be the only one to give, they have to give something too.
14. Friends in the form of animals
Pets are the best ever. Some consider their pet to be their best friend, and it is true! What if you two can’t speak in the same language or communicate exactly? You’re there for each other, love each other, and that’s what friendship is!
15. Friends through mutual hate
Friendships are usually formed when two people have something in common, but those formed through mutual hate is a quirky one. They might not have anything really in common, but this hate towards something, even if it’s strawberry flavoured ice-cream, can bring you closer and after a little more time, you’re friends for life, even if you two are from different cliques or spheres of life.
16. That friend you’re always crazy with
You two are goofballs together, and enjoy it very much! You may not have a deep friendship or might not know everything about each other—you may not even talk that often—but when you two do meet, you’re crazy and high and have loads of fun, even entertaining the group of friends you’re with.
17. That friend you’re not very close to, but would do anything for
These are the most innocent friendships ever. You two are average friends, but if the other asks for something or needs emotional support, you will be there in a heartbeat, and vice versa. Down the road, these friendships might actually last long.
And those are the “few” (bwahahaha) friendships that came to mind. Sure, there ARE many more, but every friendship is unique and no two friendships are exactly alike. It’s like DNA 😉
P.S. Because of this post I have close to thirty friendship GIFs in my folder now 😛
How many of these friendships exist in your life? Can you tell some more? Did these make you think of those certain friends? Comment down below and let’s chat!
Now, I don’t celebrate Christmas as I mentioned in two of my previous blog posts, but I love how those who celebrate it are crazy about it on the internet. People started playing Christmas music the minute Halloween ended! The internet is FILLED with Christmas and I really love how everyone’s in a better, happier mood because “it’s that time of the year”.
I was watching someone’s vlog and they were talking about what they would want for Christmas and I thought why not I do it too? I’ve never thought of a wishlist before, rather make one, so this is new. Also, my birthday is on 30th Dec, which is basically the new year (according to everyone who find out my birthday), and this could also serve as a birthday wishlist! (If any of my IRL friends are reading this—which I’m sure you’re not—take note)
So, here’s my wishlist!
Throne of Glass and Empire of Storms, both by Sarah J Maas. I have the other three books and I need these to complete my collection, but they’re just too expensive to buy by myself!
A portable photo printer. I’ve been seeing this around a lot—devices which print photos from your phone. And I love the idea of it! All I want to do is take print, stick it in my journal or my wall, and put my memories around!
A pack of midliners. I need these and we don’t get them in my country! I totally know how I would use it in my notes or bullet journal. It’s pretty cheap in Amazon.com and I have $15 on it but I can’t buy it. I need to add another $25 or $35 dollars worth stuff to ship to my country. I get so jealous seeing people use it on Instagram or Tumblr.
Printed washi tape. THIS ONE. I just.. aargh! I see such beautiful washi tape on social media and I just love love them but I have to ship them home! Even right now I’m checking out a website where there are such cute products, and the washi tape is ❤ Even if there is free shipping, the dollar to rupee is too expensive. Two washi tapes cost two hundred bucks for me. And that is ON SALE!
Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. I need this so much, to hold it that I’ve already hinted to my best friend that I want this. I’ve read it so many times in my ebook but I have to have it in my hands. So much.
PIZZA. I would be really happy if someone treated me to pizza. I love it, I want it, I haven’t had it in so long. Pizza!
Any book merch. Mugs, bookmarks, tees, whatever. I hardly have book merch and I really really want them. Plus, the things on Society6 are so awesome!
And I think that’s about it! Basically, I’m out of cash, I don’t want to spend more and these are some things that people could pool in money and get me.
My friends and I all get one gift or a few gifts by pooling some equal amount of money each and get the gift(s). Having a lot of friends in my group means spending a lot of money on buying gifts. I suppose it was actually lesser this year because we didn’t buy for a couple people as they were in dorms. Actually, only one person, and he in fact treated us to lunch one day. The other thing is that we love getting unique gifts. Actually putting in thought and making a custom gift, or getting something new and exciting and different. So, mostly they won’t give me books, because that’s too streamlined; and I was the one who came up with half the gift ideas this year and last year so I assume they’ll think of something creative.
Anyhow, I’m gonna love it. So I won’t worry 🙂
(P.S. if you’re looking for stock photos for header backgrounds for Christmas, do check out pexels because those photos are so good, not using them is almost a crime. It was hard for me to not dump all of those photos in this post.)
