Reading Slump

 I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I want to read new stuff, be inspired by new plots and new authors, get my TBR pile shortened.

But what do I do instead of reading?
Buying new books, rereading old books, not reading at all.

I have a pile of books that need to be read. A pile that won't stop growing. A pile that I said would not get any larger until I read a few of them. A pile which I recently betrayed and bought a bunch more books.

I have another pile of books that need to be finished. I start one and get distracted. I start one and another calls to me. I start one, feel the need to avoid confrontation, and put it down again.

I have a third pile of books that I'm in the middle of rereading. At least these I'm rereading for craft, looking at specific aspects of the book that I'm in need of extra research assistance in my own manuscript. At least that's a justifiable pile.

How does one get out of a reading slump? Especially when the weather just really wants to drag you under its gloom?

#TBRpiles #rereadingbooks #readingslump #readingproblems #booknerd #problemsofabooknerd #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Adorkable

Adorkable by Cookie O'Gorman was absolutely fabulous. Amazing. All of the cute, fluffy, rom-com/fanfic tropes.

All of them. Well most of them. You have your friends-to-lovers, your childhood-sweet-hearts, your high-school-sweet-hearts, your fake-dating. All of it.

The adorable in Adorkable was definitely there. in very high levels. Very. See: list of tropes above.

However, the dorky was...a little lacking. I get why, as a writer. O'Gorman had to stick to vague references as to not alienate readers. But I was left wanting more.

See the full back-of-the-book-description below:

["Seventeen-year-old Sally Spitz is done with dating. Or at least, she's done with the horrible blind dates/hookups/sneak attacks her matchmaking bestie, Hooker, sets her up on. There's only so much one geek girl and Gryffindor supporter can take.
Her solution: she needs a fake boyfriend. And fast.
Enter Becks, soccer phenom, all-around-hottie, and Sally's best friend practically since birth. When Sally asks Becks to be her F.B.F. (fake boyfriend), Becks is only too happy to be used. He'd do anything for Sal--even if that means giving her PDA lessons in his bedroom, saying she's "more than pretty," and expertly kissing her at parties.
The problem: Sally's been in love with Becks all her life--and he's completely clueless."]

#adorkable #cookieogorman #adorable #dorky #yabooks #books #bookphotography #bookstagram #ilovebooks

Goodbye January

January took...forever. And then some.
     But according to the memes, everyone knows that.
Here's to a (slightly) shorter February.


Just like 2019, I wanted to make some resolutions and (try to) stick to them. As a reminder, here were my updated resolutions.


2020 Resolutions:

     (1) Write [almost] every day

     (2) Don't stop reading

     (3) Complete something (e.g. a manuscript)

     (4) Share love of books/writing
     (5) Be kinder to myself

I did....okay in January. Not great. Well, it started off great. But then the month draggggged on, and on, and on. As it dragged, so did my resolve/determination.

(1) I...started off very well. I wrote every day. I read almost every day. When I wasn't writing, I was reading. It was progress....it stuttered. February will be better (fingers crossed).

(2) I haven't stopped. I started rereading a few books (halfway done with one--one-third of the way done with the other). I even read a full book, a new book (review/post to come). Books read this month: 1 (and a few halves)

(3) Manuscript coming well. Forty-ish new pages. Somehow. I honestly don't remember writing that much. But I guess I did.

(4) Blogs have...n't happened this month. Posts this month (including this one): 1.

(5) I've lost weight. Well A little. But I have gone down in pants sizes, which is progress. I've been eating better and exercising several times a week. My mental health has been pretty steady. All in all, not bad at all. :)


Anyone still holding onto their resolutions?


Any exciting February reads?
Anything I should check out?

#newyearsresolutions #goodbyejanuary #hellofebruary #hello2020 #keeplearning #writeeveryday #dontstopreading #completesomething #getprofessional #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Hello 2020

Last year, I made a list of resolutions, and kept myself accountable here on my blog/bookstagram.
I will be doing the same exact thing this year with new resolutions (slightly new).

2019 Resolutions: 

     (1) Keep learning

     (2) Write [almost] every day

     (3) Don't stop reading

     (4) Complete something (e.g. a manuscript)

     (5) Get [a little] professional.

 2020 Resolutions:

     (1) Write [almost] every day

     (2) Don't stop reading

     (3) Complete something (e.g. a manuscript)

     (4) Share love of books/writing
     (5) Be kinder to myself

So really, they haven't changed a whole, whole lot. But I really loved my resolutions last year. I want a whole new start at them this year. Really make it a full on addition to my life.

(4) is the old (5)--Get [a little] professional turned into Share love of books/writing. Aka continue with the blog. Most posts next year.

(5) is really the only new one. I want to continue to lose weight (which has been an on and off again struggle last year), but I didn't want to focus just on a number. I want to eat better. I want to exercise more. And I want to not be too hard on myself when I don't do the other three things. When I fall off the wagon (which I will), I don't want to feel (too) bad. I want to be kinder to myself.

What are your 2020 resolutions?

#newyearsresolutions #hello2020 #keeplearning #writeeveryday #dontstopreading #completesomething #getprofessional #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Goodbye 2019

I can't believe that 2019 is almost over. Like...I can't believe it. I feel like it was only just June. And in June it felt like it was only just February. How did this year go by so quickly? How?

Here I am again checking in with my 2019 resolutions:

(1) Keep learning

(2) Write [almost] every day

(3) Don't stop reading

(4) Complete something (e.g. a manuscript)

(5) Get [a little] professional 

The Full Year Check Up:

(1) Again, no real "evidence" of this to share. 

(2) In total, I read less than half of the year. I didn't do as well as I had hoped. But my dreams had been far reaching. All and all, I think I did good. Next year can only get better.

(3) Again, in total, I did less than I had hoped, less than last year. But I'd like to say that a total of 60 books was a good accomplishment. That's a little over 1 books per week. More than the average reader. Next year can only get better.

(4) I hadn't...exactly completed anything. Not fully. But I made some really major strides in the last two months. But I guess completely a full run through of pen-to-paper edits and half of the pen-to-computer edits done is something to be proud of. Third time's a charm: next year can only get better.

(5) I forgot about this one. Or to say that this post meant my blog itself. Again, like reading, my posts have gone down in numbers in the past few months (only writing = no reading = no posts). Posts in 2019: 156 (that includes this one).

I'm going to (try) to do this whole thing (resolutions, reading/writing, blog posts, checking-in, etc) again next year.

What are your big 2020 reads?

Anything I should check out?

As we say at the daycare I work at during circle time:

"Goodbye, 2019!"

"Hello, 2020!"

It sounds silly, but just imagine 6-10 two year olds repeating that after you. It could make almost anyone smile.

#newyearsresolutions #keeplearning #writeeveryday #dontstopreading #completesomething #getprofessional #goodbye2019 #hello2020 #bookstagram #books #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Goodby December

December felt unreal. And very fast.

Here I am again checking in with my 2019 resolutions:

(1) Keep learning

(2) Write [almost] every day

(3) Don't stop reading

(4) Complete something (e.g. a manuscript)

(5) Get [a little] professional 

This month went...barely better. I kinda sucked again.

(1) Again, no real "evidence" of this to share. 

(2) I wrote almost every single day. I can count on one hand, less than one hand, how many days I didn't get writing in (and they were because I was sick--or the "its Christmas" excuse)

(3) I read 0 books in December, almost started a few. I've sucked at reading for a while now. I find it hard to write and read at the same time.

(4)  60+ pages. Its hard to tell. I'm still editing, and I have a bunch of different docs going on. But I'm going very well. Very. :)

(5) Posts in December: 2 (that includes this one).

I'm going to (try) to do this at the end of every month, or close to it (that is, if I remember, and my life isn't too too crazy at that time).

#newyearsresolutions #keeplearning #writeeveryday #dontstopreading #completesomething #getprofessional #bookstagram #books #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Writing/Editing Rant--Part 3

Editing Update: Another 40-60 pages in.
Again, its hard to tell exactly how much I've come along.

But I'm almost halfway through putting my pen-to-paper edits into the computer document. So there's that.

I had a very (very) ambitious goal of finishing this whole round of paper-to-computer edits by the end of the year. And well, its not happening. It's just not. Unfortunately. But it was a big (almost un-accomplishable) goal in the first place.

I'm on a roll, and I love it.

Okay, well I was on a roll. Was.

I started a new TV show and watched two whole seasons in a week.
I forced myself to stop, because I wasn't getting any writing done with all that binge watching.
So naturally, I started another new TV show. I've been binging that. Two seasons done in a week. I need to stop. Really. I do. Or find a good balance of work (writing) and play (watching).

Any advice on a good balance?

Also, I've really been in a reading mood lately. So that means (because I can't do both--I really can't) no writing. Its a bitter sweet moment. I've been wanting to read more, but it'll take time away from my writing. Bleh!

Again, any advice?

Also, I just like...get so much done. I feel so freaking accomplished. And then I remember a lot of other things to add, to edit, to remove. Its a freaking never-ending cycle. I'm so tired.

New Goal: finish this whole manuscript and have it (almost?) sent (hopefully) to an agent by this time next year? Yeah? :/ Yeah. :)

#keepwriting #writersproblems #writing #editing #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks