Why I Love the Book Blogging Community

Let me start by saying I tried to think of a flashier title for this post. Something fancy and poetic and possibly derived from a famous philosophical quote. I came up with zilch so you get the very original 'Why I Love the Book Blogging Community'...

I don't usually do posts like these. Wait what do I mean usually? I mean never. And it's because I've never felt the need to (among other reasons). But as of late there has been a post and if you know the post then you know what I mean and if you don't then it's still A-OK. I agree with the post and the fact that each blogger has the right to express what they want. However, some drama has also arisen due to a difference of opinions. Guys let's not forget that we're all entitled to our own opinions and that is what makes me love you all - what makes everybody unique. It seems some negativity(?) has come about around the book blogging community - the way some people say/do things that others don't agree with...

Which is why I want to go back to the reasons why I love the book blogging community. There's #LoveAThon coming up in February to spread the blog positivity, so don't forget to sign up for that on either Alexa, Cee, Mel or Hazel's blogs. 

It's no secret that this blog has struggled. I've mentioned it a million and one times so won't bore you with the details. But if you read between the lines enough you might have noticed that underneath, I had notions of quitting. I don't though. I keep on hanging on because of reasons:

I was welcomed with open arms. When I first started using Twitter to discuss books and writing on my blog, everybody was SO welcoming. My friend Mariam introduced me to people and Saz tweeted about my blog and then all these amazing people started talking to me and following me (Alice, Shirley, Pavan, Claire, Hannah, Kim, Kerrie, Kat... and so many other Aussie bloggers). I don't want to stop talking to these beautiful people. When I met so many of them in real life at my first book event after only blogging for 3 months, everybody treated me like I was one of them.

Publishers are so inclusive. I started to hesitantly email and introduce myself to publishers after reviewing for 3 months and ALL. THE. AUSSIE. PUBLISHERS. ARE. SO. FREAKING. NICE. I still remember how daunting it was to send my first email to a publicist introducing myself and asking if I could be added to their database to know about new books. The replies I got were welcoming and I felt so grateful. To this day, I try to regularly email publicists to not only maintain that relationship, but yes while they're busy at work, sometimes a nice email that simply says "hi how are you" puts a smile on people's busy days - hey we're all human.

Interacting with publishers is so fun. Beyond the emails publishers hold chats (PTA Chat) and blogging events (PTA Live, BTCYA Bloggers Night just to name a few) which are open to all. I love getting to interact and joke around with the publicists on social media and in real life. It's a bit of heckling and a lot of fangirling and it gives me all the warm and fuzzies to see how PTA basically reply to all the tweets on a PTA Chat night.

Butting in to Twitter conversations like yeah. The amount of times I do this and have had people just include me in conversations warms my heart. It's such an open community and a lot of the time I lurk and lurk and sometimes I take the plunge and add my comment - people will reply and the spamming begins all over again yisss.

Getting to meet bloggers in real life. Every time there's a bookish event I get to meet more of the amazing people I fangirl with on Twitter. And it's just so good to see everybody and chat books and fangirl about stuff (EVAN WALKER AFTER THE 5TH WAVE MOVIE YEAH).

Friends beyond the blog. So many of these people I've met I now text and chat to on a weekly if not daily basis. We go to movies together (Joy), go out shopping (Jess), text when we feel like it or when we need someone to talk to (Kat and Mel) and it feels so great because you guys get me. You get me more than people I've known since high school get me.

Sharing is caring. And every time we meet up I love the book swaps that happen. We share the book love and just keep on giving.

The friendships have no borders. I've talked a lot about the Aussie YA book community but I've created friendships with so many like-minded people overseas. There's my fellow Sarah J Maas fans Alexa, Rachel, Judith and Katie. Alexa always takes the time to talk to people and she is such a caring person. I go fangirl crazy with Judith and Ellis who are in Europe. And I've bonded with Lisa and Siiri over Melina Marchetta and the Calloway Sisters series. Lyn is my resident KH fan and Hafsah, Cee and Josephine inspire me with their beautiful blogs and designs. 

I don't want to stop meeting such wonderful people. Along the way I've met so many other amazing bloggers and my fingers would fall off if I wrote everybody's name (YOU'RE ALL TOO WONDERFUL) but people like Jeann and Emily who always take the time to read posts and leave thoughtful comments, the people I talk to on Twitter yeh now I'm rambling... I want to keep forming these friendships.

The blogs themselves are beautiful. I love traversing and lurking on people's blogs. I get a bit envious seeing all the amazing post ideas and wonderful designs I admit. I admire the thought people put into their reviews and how their opinions are different/eye-opening. I like the way discussion posts are thought provoking and have people sharing ideas. I love seeing the features that people do that showcase their books and likes/dislikes and tell me more about the blogger. And I especially love the sweet comments that result from all this.

These are just some of the many reasons why I love the book blogging community. I'm not gonna lie and say we haven't been shaken up once in a while by drama but the overall community is so supportive and can come out stronger.

If you feel that you can't speak up as a new blogger or whatever, don't feel this way. Send me a tweet saying hi on Twitter - I swear I don't bite!

Post Ideas?

In which you tell me what you want to see on the blog...

Let's be honest guys, Fiction in Fiction in Fiction has been slow going for ages. If I want to be brutally honest, it's been a slow-going blog from the start. This isn't the first time that I've expressed my concern of not being able to churn out posts at a more frequent rate. I struggle with getting 1 post out a week these days. I used to manage 2 and even on my best weeks those were hard.

So I've looked at this long and hard, done a sort of root cause analysis and I've come to a conclusion:

• It's a time thing - work has me absolutely drained, I won't go into the full detail that when I first started blogging I was already doing full time work + uni maintaining grades
• But not just a time thing - for a while I just got demotivated from reading so many review copies that I took a break and tried to read more of my own books. In doing so that meant I didn't put as many reviews on the blog (as I only review books I request for reasons)
• I know I don't have as much capacity to read now so I request less. I read less review copies I churn out less reviews on the blog. Endless cycle.
• However, reviews only take up so much space on a blog. Just posting reviews isn't ideal for me, there should be other posts too
• But I don't have any ideas of what these other posts could be

Thus, your help is required.

Tell me what kind of posts you'd like to see on my blog other than reviews.

Some fellow bloggers have suggested I post life updates (as random as they may be), book hauls + wrap ups (I used to do these but stopped), even makeup reviews (thanks Jeann lol).

Would you guys like to see any of these? I don't want to deviate too much from being a book blog, so any bookish post ideas you want my opinion on would also greatly be appreciated.

I'm reaching out to you because I blog not only for myself, but for you, my readers. I want to be creating content that interests you :D

I'm Back: A Tale of My Adventures

Oh lordy you guys I am so sorry for the unintentional hiatus I've taken for the past month. I'm back though and here to stay (somewhat... hopefully).

Life has been pretty hectic and I just moved away from blogging because I had no time for internet. July started off with a bang, with me reading 3 books in the space of 2 weeks - I felt so good about myself. Then everything went downhill from there.

But first, a huge thanks to HarperCollins YA for the tickets to the Paper Towns premiere. Paper Towns was one of the first books I read in July and I enjoyed it so much! It's my 2nd fav after TFIOS. I adored the road trip feel, the mystery, the pranks, the diverse characters, but most of all the realistic ending. Cara Delevingne was absolutely flawless at the premiere and she was so down to earth and funny! The movie itself was a faithful adaption of the book.

Then my demise follows. A workmate recommended a K-drama to me. Now to be fair, this was one I'd wanted to watch back when it came out - I was still in high school at the time but never got around to it. He was raving about and I knew it was really well received so I thought you know what? I'll give the first ep a go. I. Was. Hooked. It was so different to the usual K-drama formula: it's usually sweet poor girl and snobby rich guy are meant to be together but rich guy is in love with rich girl; rich girl is in love with rich guy's best friend who is also rich but very nice... and so the story goes. Secret Garden was SO different and it had a bit of magic (THE GUY AND GIRL SWITCHED BODIES) and omg THERE WERE SO MANY FEELS. My heart :c


After and during my 2 week binge of Secret Garden (where I did no reading) everything seemed to be happening in my social life.

I went to a K-pop concert! BTS (Bangtan Bomb) were even more amazing live and I fell in love with them all over again. My fav songs were definitely I NEED U, Sick, Just One Day, Danger and War of Hormone.

I had 3 days of full day training at work and I was so exhausted each night. Then the Saturday straight after the training was the ball for my work. I was in the city early getting my makeup and hair done. The ball was fabulous. I'd never been to anything so fancy before! The theme was Miami Glamour so I wore a short blue lacy dress and I turned up feeling SO undressed. It was full black tie, with ladies in floor length dresses and guys in tuxes with bow ties. The venue was massive with high ceilings, gorgeous decorations and the food was awesome. There were apparently 800 people there. Went after drinks (BIG mistake) and stayed in a hotel overnight.

Turned up to breakfast on Sunday with Amie, Kat and Caz feeling absolutely gross and hungover but had a great morning with these lovely ladies!



Work then picked up with me finishing later every night and I was so exhausted when I got home I basically had dinner and just fell into bed. So again, no reading for me :(

A friend then held a wonderful Christmas in July party at her house and she did up her backyard so beautifully!

My team then won the Trivia Night for my uni's society. The theme was Disney and I can say I was the one answering all the Disney questions - and correctly :D

AND THEN AND THEN... I went on a road trip to Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay (whitest sand in the world) over the Bank Holiday long weekend. It was so gorgeous and beautiful and the weather was perfect. We had a onesie party, lots of good food and even more alcohol was involved. It was just an overall great weekend bonding with the people I've met this year. The sand was actually the whitest I've ever seen (whiter than Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island) and our beachhouse had steps from our backyard that went right down to the beach!

Kiama Blowhole, on the way there

 

Stanwell Tops and Black Head Reserve on the way there and back

Sunset at Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay

View from our beachhouse (Hyams Beach)

Now... I finished The Queen of the Tearling (finally) the other day and I'm halfway through Howl's Moving Castle so August is looking like a much better reading month.

Tell me lovelies, what's been happening with you?

Life Update

Hi mates, so this isn't so much a specific book post as an update on my life situation right now (sounds like srs business) and the lack of inactivity on the blog!

I started full-time work in mid-February. At the beginning it was alright and you were seeing me still do regular posts because I'd scheduled a heap of stuff beforehand. But as work wears on I'm becoming lazier and lazier as exhaustion kicks in from travelling to work each day.

I love the place where I work though, it was my employer of choice when I did my graduate applications last year and was so happy I nearly started crying when I got the offer last April. The community and network are amazing and they really love graduates here. If you're confused about what that means: a lot of large employers offer something called graduate programs - intended for those that have just graduated from uni (usually undergrad) and you get a really good support network (buddies and mentors). It's different from being a lateral hire because there's induction/orientations, training days, you do rotations in different business units and you're given a more sound understanding of what the company/business does, sort of like when you first started high school there were a few days of getting to know everyone and settling in, but this is for full-time work. And really anybody can apply for it because there are so many benefits to graduate programs! Not gonna lie, the application process can be long and intense with lots of competition but welcome to the real world.

Anyway, I've actually met quite a few people at work who love to read! I had a meeting with a manager quite high up yesterday and in talking about my work's LGBTI community I told him about the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign and he asked for a rec. No duh I said Ari & Dante and OMG HE'D HEARD OF IT! I told him he HAD to read it. And then we started talking books and he recommended me The Rosie Project haha which I told him is sitting on my bookshelf right next to the sequel. I'm now more motivated to read it. We then proceeded to email each other recs. TODAY I talked to another colleague who told me she loved The Book Thief (oh the shame I'm 150 pages into this and it's been sitting on my shelf for 4 years) but she was surprised it was YA. I then gave her a spiel on how YA is an age group, and there's fantastic books in it, how I can relate more to characters and life-choices and then she asked me for recommendations. I'm so pleased!

So I'm now trying to figure out my work-BLOG balance as work-life is pretty good. The challenge is ensuring I read a balance of both review and non-review books to get enough reviews for my blog to keep running, but also aim to keep at my blogging goals for 2015 like more features and blog commenting. It's really hard now but let's hope I find my feet soon. I get in before 9am everyday and make sure to leave at around 5. If I so deign I go shopping (perks of working in the city, not so great for my bank account) and on Friday nights us grads hop down to the bar downstairs for Friday night drinks then do dinner - so my social life is definitely in-tact!

I've actually been spending HEAPS of time shopping, now that I have a stable income again - those 3 months without an income and eating into my savings had me majorly worried, I'd never known the proper meaning of book buying ban until then - and I'm sadly moving towards the more luxurious end of the scale where brands are concerned. Oh the woes of being a girl right? I need clothes for work, makeup because despite what anybody says, first impressions do count and you get judged on your appearance in the business world, random pretty things (like candles what even) and then OF COURSE BOOKS. Always the books.

I've read quite a few books recently so let me give you the down low from mid-Feb - March if I didn't write a review on it:
- Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (3.5/5) which I really enjoyed. I absolutely ADORED Cinder in this. She's my favourite character thus far and Thorne is hilarious. I'm still finding the world-building to be lacking though. I'm definitely going to read Cress before Winter comes out. Also, WINTER IS 800 PAGES WHAT?
- Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott (3.5/5) was a great high fantasy with Japanese elements but for some reason I couldn't really connect to the way the MC was just able to be in touch with her power and harness it so well.
- A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray (3.5/5) has the most gorgeous cover ever seriously and I'm so glad I liked this otherwise I'd be devastated because THAT COVER. I thought this was too romance heavy and lacked the action I expected from the blurb. I wanted more universe hopping, more world-building in some cases. I think I just kept comparing it to Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE which has the most complex storyline and intricate world-building. It's a fantastic story and manga and absolute mind-fuck (customary CLAMP). I can't wait for Ten Thousand Skies Above You though!
- Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally (3/5) was alright and I liked Parker as a character but I thought she didn't stand up for herself enough at times. She wasn't sure of herself and because of that would regret many decisions she made. It annoyed me that her friends also treated her like crap when she was always supporting them.
- The Archived by Victoria Schwab (4.5/5) was my first foray in Victoria's work and I was extremely impressed. I'd heard such amazing things about her writing I was genuinely worried I'd be the black sheep. Thank goodness I wasn't. The Archived had a gorgeous and original concept. It was haunting, slightly gothic and creeptastic in the best way. Even though I guessed the culprit I still liked the way the revelation happened.
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (3/5) left me with mixed feelings. I adored the Lara Jean's family, her sisters, their relationship with their father, the father himself was a wonderful dad. I had issues with Lara Jean. It annoyed me constantly that she never stood up for herself, cried whenever she... Just cried whenever. There was no character growth with her. I will read the sequel though. I like the fresh, summery vibe Jenny's books have. AND THE COVERS <3
- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (4/5) was recommended to me extensively by Mel from YMR. Then Gina and I saw it at Dymocks and we were sold when we saw that SJM had blurbed it LOL. This kept calling to me from my bookshelf so I picked it up and couldn't put it down! It's Beauty and the Beast with a Greek mythology twist and it's done so well. My only issue was that the romance felt too quick to the point of NEARLY insta-love. But the world is amazing and very mind-blowing and gave the story this really epic, world-end kind of feel!

I'm currently reading Every Word by Ellie Marney and loving the grittiness. It's an Aussie Sherlock retelling which is fantastic and I recommend you get on the series :)

What have you guys been reading lately? Do you have a shopping problem like me? For those that work full-time especially in the corporate space - how do you balance work, life + blogging and reading?

Over and out.

On Life and Other Shenanigans (Hiatus)

Hi guys!

I guess from my sporadic activity it's pretty obvious my blog isn't that active at the moment. I guess this is because of a few reasons:

1. I haven't been reading review copies lately (I only JUST finished 1 a few days ago) as I'm trying to catch up on my back log. However, I can't seem to stick to one (review copy that is) and instead of DNFing I decided to put them down and just read my own books in the hopes of clearing up my TBR pile. So no reviews on the blog (as I only review books I request from publishers on here).
2. And the main reason is that life is hectic. Thesis is intense right now and it's due October 31. The presentation to academics is the week before that so I want to finish my thesis even before that for review and make changes before the due date. I'm also attempting a social life which is failing. Either way, I'm barely reading my own books now as it is :( I have 20 days to finish thesis *hyperventilates* and I'm so stressed/worried/anxious LOL!
3. After thesis is done I still have exams and assignments for other subjects - whose smart idea was it to overload their final semester while doing thesis and take on a job? Me, duh.

Hence, I'll be on full hiatus until October 31, 2014 and semi-hiatus until November 17, 2014 which is my last exam EVER :D then I'm gonna binge read ALL the books and catch up on all the reviews I owe the amazing publishers who put up with me.

In the meantime, you can find me on social media - I'm still active on Twitter and Instagram (links on the side) but not so much tumblr anymore (same deal as the blog).

Thanks for understanding. Hugs and cookies for you all.