What would my blogging look like without ARCs?

Earlier this month, I posed a question to twitter: how would the elimination of ARCs change your blogging style or interaction with the book community?  That got me really thinking about how my blog would change.

Sunday morning question:

How would the elimination of ARCs affect your blog/interaction with the book community?

— Amber Elise (@dulivre) March 3, 2019

Black History Month Reads

Happy Black History Month friends! 2019 is proving to be just as weird as 2018, but there have been some major strides in Black representation in the media. Today I'll share books by Black authors that I love as well as some books I desperately want to read!

Fantasy romance books that'll make your heart pitter-patter

It's no surprise that I love fantasy, nor is it a surprise that I like my books with romance as well. So of course I love me some fantasy romance. To help kick off Valentine's Day, I've listed some of my favorite fantasy romances. 

For me a fantasy romance has romance as one of its main driving forces. Sure there can be a war brewing, but the main characters must be struggling to understand their feelings for each other as well. 

How I use my bujo

In 2016, I stepped into the world of bullet journals. I had no idea what I was doing, but I bought all the washi tape and markers I could. Fast forward to 2019 and my bujo is an integral part to my organizational life. For tracking my reading habits to my daily life, I would be lost without my bujo. 

Books I'm anticipating for the rest of 2018

I finally got my wish, summer is over and fall has begun! That also means that I'm drowning in October 2018 ARCs (and would you look at that, I"m also in a blogging/reading slump so...help). Despite my mini-meltdown, I'm still excited for some great titles to come out this year.

Books I Read this Summer

Back in May, I wrote a blog post about the books  I hoped to read during the summer. Even when I was writing it, I knew it was an ambitious list, but I was crossing my fingers that I would be able to stick with the list since I published it on the internet. Let's see how I did?

Why I Love Blogging

Last week I came to the realization that I have been blogging for over seven years now. How did the years get away from me? How have I stuck to this hobby for so long? Even with all of the hard work that goes into blogging and the occasional drama, I don't think I could give it up. Here's why: 

Books that let me down

It happens to all of us. We fell hard for the hype for a book. Maybe we were fans of the author's previous works. Or maybe all of the gorgeous ~aesthetics~ sold us. So we pre-ordered that bad boy and cracked it open. Desperate to have the best time of our lives and write a glowing review (or at least gush to everyone about it). Except that day never came. The book you just read? That book that you were obsessing over? The book that you ordered the special edition because you just had to have it? Well, that book? It sucked. 

Here are some books that let me down in the worst way.

Books I want to read this summer

To all my friends in the United States, Happy Memorial Day! It's unbelievable how June is just a few days away! We've finally got humid days and long nights in my neck of the woods which makes me crave ice cream every hour on the hour. This is the perfect season to catch up on TBR challenges and book club reads since publishing will be taking their mini hiatus. Since I'm a major fan of lists, I put one together with a number of books I want to read this summer!

When covers don't make any sense

I'll happily admit that the reason why I research a book is because the cover tells an interesting story. There have been a few times when I've been fooled by the cover. You know, when the cover shows two swords clashing and it's really a young adult contemporary novel? Okay maybe not that extreme, but you know what I mean. Here are some covers that led me astray. 

Book Blogger Recommendations

This post was inspired by a twitter post from Olivia @ Olivia's Catastrophe in which she highlighted blogs that she visits for particular book recommendations which I thought was a great idea! In my opinion, word of mouth is what makes the book community so great: we share our favorite books, we share events that are upcoming, and we alert each other to problematic books/authors. To continue the blogger love, I wanted to highlight some blogs that I venture to for specific book recommendations!

Blogger Confessions

A few months ago, my boss moved from an apartment she had for over ten years. When it came time to move, she took a few pictures of the moving process and posted them on instagram. The next day at work we commented how good the place looked. She thanked us and said that the photos she posted were only a corner of the new apartment, the rest of the place was full of boxes and random chaos. 

Isn't it funny how we hand-select what we want the internet to see? That's definitely true for my social media channels, and I think it's common in blog culture as well. We want to highlight our book hauls and rave about all of our 5-star reads; it's only very rarely that we feel comfortable enough to tell the world how we really feel because the internet is unforgiving. So over the past year, I've been writing down some of my blogger confessions and want to share them with you. 

Are you ready? 

Tropes I'm Trash For

Happy Valentine's Day Week! I love talking about all the things I love about books and the blogging community. Today, I figured I would share the romance tropes that get me every time!

Behind the Screen: A Book Blogger Tag

One of my favorite aspects of book blogging is that we have the opportunity to get to know each other through our writing and reading habits. My most favorite posts from bloggers are the ones where I get to learn something new about my favorite bloggers and share likes and dislikes. I think that's why I created this tag. If you ever wanted to get to know me a bit more, now is your chance! If not, well, sorry. 

Thoughts Every Blogger Has

I've been blogging for over eight years and each year brings about new insecurities and new victories. Since blogging is primarily an individual hobby, I often get stuck in my own head and feel that I'm the only one with less than positive thoughts about blogging. So I present you with the various blogging-related thoughts I've had over the years. 

How do you find new book bloggers?

If you're like me, you always want to expand your circle: find new blogs to follow and bloggers to talk about books with. But sometimes it can be hard, we get stuck in our current circle of bloggers and don't have time to blog hop. Even if you did have time to blog hop, where would you start? Today, I'd like to share some of my tips to find new bloggers and I would love to hear how you all do it!

First Cover Who?

Last week, I featured original covers that went through unfortunate redesigns. To continue the cover conversation, I'll be featuring some redesigns that had me asking "first cover who"?

Books I'm excited for!

It is September, and that means that bookworms across the country are desperately trying not keep up with all of the Fall releases. And guess what, this is just the beginning! Since there are only four months left of 2017, I thought I'd outline the 2017 releases I am anticipating the most!

Authors I Would Want to Write My Life

I'm always jealous of those authors who can make writing and worldbuilding seem so effortless. They can pick up a pen (what year is this? They can sit at their computer) and just write the most beautiful prose. Sometimes I get in weird moods and wonder what my life would sound like coming from one of these story weavers.So let's check out who I think would make my life sound pretty cool!

10 Signs You're Experiencing a Book Hangover

 

You've spent the better part of your week devouring a book and you've finally turned the last page. It's over? But it can't be over, there is so much more you want to know, so many more scenes you need to read. It just can't end! 

Sound familiar? You may be having a book hangover.