#reading events

[onecontinuoussigh]

Okay I got jealous of everyone making custom reading bingo's for the @ficreadingchallenge so I made one too!

I've already checked off some of these so I'll need to update and see where I'm at!

[grass-harp]

BOOKS OF APRIL ‘18

Long time no wrap-up! April was a weird reading month for me: Quantitatively good, since I managed to read six books. Qualitatively, not so good, since most of the books I read were mediocre reads and didn’t leave me very satisfied. One highlight of this month, however, was my impromptu weekend readathon with @the-literaryowl , during which I read and fell in love with “Everything I Never Told You”. It was perfect - not only is Celeste Ng an amazing writer, but chatting to Melody about my thoughts about the story made me read it more closely and appreciate it even more.

Another highlight was meeting Celeste Ng, when she presented her newer book, Little Fires Everywhere, in Berlin. Unfortunately, the event itself was a bit meh, since the moderator managed to make the whole event more about him and his opinion of the book rather than giving some space to Celeste Ng. 

But enough of that, let’s talk about the books that I read in April:

Morgan Matson: “The Unexpected Everything”

Morgan Matson is one of my go to’s when I feel like some nice, contemporary YA that is fluffy and serious at the same time. This book was the weakest one I’ve read of her, however, and I’m not entirely sure if it’s because I’m older now or because of the book itself. It gave me fluff, summery vibes and cute dogs, but not more than that.

V. E. Schwab: “Vicious”

Victoria Schwab’s books are not for me. I appreciate that her protagonists are usually some kind of anti-hero and I like the ideas in her stories. But while reading them, I always get the impression that everything is supposed to be cool and dark and different and it just doesn’t work for me. The villains are bland, I don’t care about the characters because they’re too busy being cool, and ah - I’m just frustrated. I should just give up on her books.

Celeste Ng: “Everything I Never Told You”

This book was amazing. It will also get a full review soon.

Madeline Miller: “Circe”

I love how Madeline Miller narrates classic myths in a modern way with a slightly different interpretation. They’re definitely easier to read than the original, but don’t feel superficial. Sadly, I felt as distant from the characters in this one as in her first story about Achilles, and thus didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. Nonetheless, Circe is a cool story about an ancient witch with a feminist twist and some good observations of human nature.

Leslye Walton: “The Price Guide To The Occult”

Based on my experience with her first novel (Ava Lavender, which I absolutely loved), I had expected a whimsical story with elements of magical realism that works both as an adult or a YA novel. Unfortunately, this book was more of a typical paranormal YA novel, including InstaLove, flat characters and a straightforward plot that didn’t offer any surprises.

Sarah Kuttner: “180 Grad Meer”

I  had a few thoughts about this German book which I will post soon (in German, with a small summary in English).

Which books did you read in April? Any new favourites?

[grass-harp]

SLOW READING

Although my tiredness usually arrives when darkness falls and I start anticipating my warm bed by the time I get out of the lab, I decided to try something new this week. New city and all, I thought I should get to know some things and possibly some people. I stumbled upon the website of a slow reading club in my city. Books? Reading together? I decided to give it a shot.

The Slow reading manifesto

Take time off to read - at least half an hour to get fully immersed in the text.

Choose a quiet place and put your smartphone, tablet or laptop aside and switch off your TV.

Pick whichever book you like. Don’t feel pressured to read difficult literature.

Start from the beginning if you don’t know anymore what you read.

Let the letters and words sink in, no need to hurry.

Underline words and sentences that you like or that you want to look up later.

Originally from New Zealand, slow reading groups are apparently popping up across the globe (with the exception of most German cities, which struck me as odd). The one in my city meets once a month in a book shop that also serves as a coffee place.

Ready, Set, Slow down

To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I really wanted to go. Does it really make a difference to get together to read rather than just cozying up at home? I convinced myself give it a try. The Slow Reading Club meets after bookshop hours, so no customers were milling about anymore. I arrived there, marveled at the tables with books, bookish goodies and the board advertising the hot beverages, ordered a Chai Latte and was then explained the very basics about the event by the person organising the meetings. We continued chatting about books, blogs, and how these events can help you set aside time to read. Talking to another newbie it became quite evident that all of us wished to spend more time reading next to busy everyday life, required reading in uni or work and other things that can get in the way of reading for ourselves.

Time to read

I brought “All The Crooked Saints” by Maggie Stiefvater to the event. At first, the book was surprisingly hard to get into. It starts off and goes on quite slowly, ladden with metaphors and background information and details here and there. It’s beautifully written, but the first fifty pages felt like a long backstory to a story I didn’t even know yet. So yeah, it wasn’t easy to focus on this book at first.

But I liked the quiet atmosphere, the background noises of people turning pages and shuffling about in their seats to find a more comfortable reading position. Sometimes I looked up and found everyone focused on their book, turning pages and being lost in a world that was only open to them. The silent companionship of reading together but separate struck me as something that you usually don’t experience when reading by yourself. It can get quite lonely at times.

Reading got easier and at some point I found myself going back and forth between the pages of the book I was reading to connect some details. Possible discussion questions about the book came into my mind, but I didn’t stop the reading flow to write them down. It was nice to spend some quiet time with a book that way. And in the end I wasn’t only glad that I took the time to read and get into the story, but also to have met people that share my love for books.

Have you ever tried slow reading or reading in a group?

[skipton-removals]

Q: Do Writers in Keighley want a 2018 Live Reading Event?

[gladeslibrarian]

Here’s a KidLit story for you on World Read Aloud Day 2016 Need a story for #WorldReadAloudDay 2016? How about sharing one of my favorite stories - 'Interrupting Chicken' by David Ezra Stein - read by yours truly. 'Interrupting Chicken' read aloud on YouTube #readallthebooks #wrad16

[tea-books-lover]

I was thinking about how a lot of us have those enormous TBR piles, but we still keep adding new books, while the ones at the bottom of the pile are waiting for their turn. I need some kind of motivation to read them, and that's why I came up with this idea: each month, from 1st to 5th, I will be reading only the books from my TBR pile, the long neglected ones. And I'd love it if more people joined me!  You can post your reading lists, progress, photos of your piles - whatever you want. Please use the tag: #tbrdays 

[bookish-illuminations]

Bout of Books 12

Happy New Year, Blog Readers!

You know what January means….another Bout of Books! This is Bout of Books 12, and it runs January 5th-January 11th. That’s next week! If you’ve never participated before, I hope you’ll consider joining. It’s absolutely fantastic–you get to read and connect with loads of other wonderful people who are also reading at the same time.

Here’s more info:

The Bout of Books…

View On WordPress

[ultra-melonisms]

Writers, writers everywhere!

So I had my interview today with Maura McHugh who was just impossibly lovely, which was great for me as I was a bit nervous about my first interview and asking her questions! I love it when talented people you admire turn out to be genuinely lovely in real life! McHugh is currently writing for the new Witchfinder series The Mysteries of Unland and it's really a fantastic book, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery and the fantasy/horror genre.

Also, as some of you might know, it was national flash fiction day today so the creative writing school I intern for held an event in Arthur's Pub, Dublin for writers to read out their flash fiction pieces (I also read out one of my own stories, very nerve wrecking!). Events like these always make me realise just how many talented writers are out there that I just have never heard of because they don't get recognition they deserve from either publishers or the media. To think, some of the best stories in the world will never be heard, it's so sad!

All round though, it was a very good day and I hope everyone who writes flash fiction got a chance to show off their work today as well!