My New Found Love for Audiobooks | (A Second) Discussion

Greetings readers!

I feel like I’ve already done an audiobook discussion…..whatever, I am going to do one again, I have more to say!

As some of you know, towards the end of 2019 I really went down an audiobook hole. I used to claim to be unable to listen to audiobooks because I have the attention span of a bean, which is very much true. It turns out, however, that I am a better listener than I initially thought!

I wanted to discuss my experience with you today and obviously pose the same question to you all!

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What Do You Listen To?

SO. It turns out that I prefer to have romance books read to me than actually read them myself. Yup. It’s uhhh…I uh…I don’t like to think about it too much because that also indirectly means I prefer to listen to the smexy scenes and well I think that is more blush inducing than anything! However, if I take a minute to rationalize, I realize that when I listen to the romancier bits I get through it quicker then when I’m reading it and I pause every couple of words to just take a minute and analyze my life choices. This, again, has nothing to do with pro-romance readers and everything to do with me, an awkward rookie in the romance bookverse,

Apart from romance, I do have some middle grade lined up for me! So let’s see how that goes. I also am considering listening to a fantasy audiobook which I will hopefully love!

Leave your recommendations below, they are always welcome.

When Do You Listen to Audiobooks?

I found that it works out best for me when I’m commuting to and from school! I just pop in my headphones, blast the volume, and listen away. I have no fear of someone reading over my shoulder especially when I get to saucier or bloodier parts in my novels. Of course, I can’t stop myself from making faces sometimes or from holding in my smile/laughter, it’s just a natural habit of mine, and I might look a little to into my “music” to the other passengers.

I also listen to books at night before I go to bed. It’s the perfect way to relax. I don’t have to keep switching hands when one gets tired of flipping the page. I can close my eyes and am no longer reading on this tiny screen in my pitch black room slowly increasing my chances of going blind. The volume is also super soft so I’m not too worried about going deaf soon.

How Do You Listen to Audiobooks?

I’m talking speed. I always get a little intimidated when I see that the audiobook is 9-11 hours long. Like geez, I don’t have that much time on my hands. I also don’t like listening to books at normal speed because I feel like the normal pace is almost too slow for me. I prefer reading somewhere between 1.5x-1.75x faster. That way I still hear the emotion in the characters voices and they don’t sound like total chipmunks. (And also maybe because I can get through the sexy scenes a little faster…especially if I’m blushing on the bus)

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Where Do You Get Your Audiobooks From?

I have only ever gotten my audiobooks from my library’s website, Overdrive/Libby. I am super luck the Toronto Public Library has an extensive collection of digital material, and even though the wait lines can be long, there is always something to borrow in the mean time! I am curious about Audible, but I believe that is kind of like a subscription service and as a less than rich student, I think that if I am gonna spend money on books I would prefer physical copies.

Who Do You Like as Narrators?

I know this is a weird question, but hey everyone has their likes. From the couple of Christina Lauren books I’ve read, I know I prefer one of their female narrators over another and I really like the dude that they usually have, Deacon Lee or something like that. The narrator for this Toronto-set book could have been amazing if she had the right Toronto accent and it was just really cringe-y hearing her pronounce some things wrong. Everything is in the accent y’all!

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That’s it for me. If I’m being totally honest sometimes I don’t know why I bother with ebooks anymore, if audiobooks are just so handy or rather not handy because all I need are headphones. I can’t say audiobooks beat having a real physical book in my hands.

Audiobooks are a whole world in the universe of reading and I am still a total noob when it comes to them, so I would love to hear your input! As always leave your recs, I’m always looking to place on hold at my library these days!

Happy reading!

~ Rendz

How do you audiobook? | A Discussion

Greetings readers!

It’s a spontaneous post today! I’ve recently been thinking about different ways in which books are available to us. Whether it be in a physical book form, digitally or in audio, there are so many methods in which one can read!

But today we are going to focus on audiobooks. More importantly–I am going to discuss what a total noob I am with audiobooks.

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My History with Listening to Books

It is not extensive lol. I have officially only listened to 3 audiobooks. Two that I did not finish and one that I recently did get through in its entirety. I used to not be the biggest fan of audiobooks because well I neither had the patience nor the attention span to get through one. Every time I would try to get into it, I would miss so much as I stopped paying attention. You see, my mind tends to wander a lot. A lot. The perks of having a very good imagination in my opinion. And I would get so lost and lose out on a lot of info as I was reading.

However….recently I listened to the audio of The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth and I ABSOLUTELY adored everything about it. It was the first time that I didn’t get bored and quit halfway. I even listened to it mostly at normal speed! I picked it up on a whim because I felt like jumping back into the story and it was honestly one of the best decisions I made. I absolutely loved the narrators. I loved listening to the emotion that they put in their voices of Ev and Phil. I thought it was so incredibly wonderful!

(The only con is that it was hard to tell when the characters were speaking out loud vs in their heads…)

So naturally I’m very curious about audiobooks now since the last one was such a success with me.

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So…How DO you audiobook?

I’m very curious about it because I am not 100% sure if there is a certain way to do it…

Like, for example, do you have the book in front of you and follow along with the narrator in your ear?

When I listened to TLBW I didn’t have the the book in front of me. I listened to it at night, in my room, in the dark, with my eyes closed (most of the time). It was the perfect setting for no distractions, but still my mind wandered every now and then. I don’t know if I would like following along with the book as I listen because I tend to read quicker than the narrator (even when I bump up the speed).

Thinking of speed…Do you bump up the speed as you read?

I do. Not dramatically. Usually just 0.2x/0.4x faster. I don’t like the sound of people speaking so quickly because I feel like I lose some of the enchantment and emotion in the story. However reading at normal speed can get tedious because they take such long, dramatic pauses!

Where/when do you listen?

I’ve already said that I listened to TLBW in a dark, quiet room with barely any distractions so that I could focus…but I know lots of people listen to them while doing other things! I know people listen to them as they drive, work or do homework AND I WISH I COULD DO THAT. But my brain is just not that great at multitasking I guess!

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Those are the top questions I have about audiobooks! I am really looking forward to picking up a new read sometime soon, I shall browse Overdrive and see what’s available. I like the idea of using them for rereads because I can get through them quickly and my commutes could be a perfect setting for listening to them too!

However, I do have one final question:

WHAT ARE YOUR AUDIOBOOK RECOMMENDATIONS?!

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I would love to know how you guys feel about audiobooks and the methods in which you read them!

Happy reading!

~ Rendz

My Mismatched Series | A Discussion

Greetings readers!

Since I decided to read more from my shelves this year, I decided to do a little rearranging the other day and I noticed that a system of organization for this is not my strong suit. How I organize my shelf is rather complex: favourites, author and size are all taken into account when choosing how to fit my books on the shelf. And sometimes the system really lacks efficiency.

But Shelf Organization is a topic for another day, today I want to talk about my mismatched series. Series of books that I have on my shelves that just do not match (and thus mess up the organization of my books). It ranges from size to cover changes to just having completely different editions.

So let us begin:

Size: Too Big, Too Small, Too Fat, Too Thin:

This category takes up most of the mismatched-ness of my shelves. I am the person to buy the first couple of books in a series in paperback because they have been out for a while and then I buy the final books in hardcover because I am too eager to wait for them all to be out in paperback!

Size especially sucks when you are trying to organize because super short paperbacks don’t look the greatest next to giant hardcovers.

The Following is a list of my mismatched series by size:
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (4 paperbacks, 2 hardcovers)
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (3 paperbacks, 2 hardcovers)
The Snow Like Ashes trilogy by Sara Raasch (2 paperbacks, 1 hardcover)
The Legend trilogy by Marie Lu (1 paperback, 2 hardcovers)
The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski (1 paperback, 2 hardcovers)
Ruby Red Trilogy by Kiersten Gier (1 paperback, 2 hardcovers)
A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas (This is the worst case because paperbacks are like half the size of the hardcover.) (2 paperbacks, 1 hardcover)

The Different Editions: Colour is all wrong!

I have only a few series where the covers are off. This doesn’t bother me too much but again it makes my organization much harder to do.

The Legend series by Marie Lu
I am actually okay with this series since the the cover edition of the first book I have is very similar to the original version, it’s just a little more muted in colour and smaller in size obviously because it is paperback.

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir in the Ember Quartet
I’m not mad at the cover change. I thought the change was really important especially for the message Sabaa wanted to send. I actually am very please that it is the same size as the previous hardcovers which is *blessed*

Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh in the Flame in the Mist duology
I think both covers are stunning so…I’m good. Plus I have an ARC of the second book so this one is really mismatched hehehe

The Biggest Disaster I Own:

The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

(A disaster in more ways that one and that’s my tea)

I have the first three books (Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire) in the UK edition which are super petit and white and then I have the sixth book (yup I skipped, four and five) Tower of Dawn in the Indigo Hardcover Exclusive Edition. And I’m never going to complete my collection…

So in short, it is a mess.

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Let me know what you think!

How matched are your book shelves? Do you own a lot of mismatched series like I do? Are you a stickler for having the same editions of books?

I love my books in any shape they come in, the story is what really matters to me. But having a beautiful set of all matching covers in size and shape that fit perfectly in one spot on the shelf is a really pleasing feeling.

Happy reading!

~ Rendz

Let’s Discuss Reviewing Books, Shall We?

Greetings readers!

Writing reviews has been a topic on my mind as of late.

How do you write your reviews? What do your focus your content on? How professional do you sound?

These questions have sort of been plaguing my mind as of late after reading someone’s comment about reviews. This comment was not targeted towards anyone in particular, it was just the person’s opinion.

Basically they said that when someone writes a review that is a brief sum about the plot and what characters they did and did not like, it is not in fact a valid review.

The comment I’m sure was meant to be helpful and not at all pretentious, but it just did not sit well with me. And I know it is because that is how I started writing reviews. I would give a sum of what happened in the story and state which characters were my favourite. My old reviews are pretty trashy I admit, but that doesn’t mean they can’t count as reviews, right? You have to start somewhere! You have to learn from mistakes right?

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Trying To Peg Those Critical Reading Skills

I am not ashamed to admit it. The likelihood that any of my reviews will ever sound professional or eloquent enough to be featured on a review magazine/site is ZERO. I am not that type of reviewer. I am a rambler and a !!!! ???? XD user. My reviews are not even coherent sometimes! I go off on several tangents and sometimes I make zero sense!

But I enjoy reviewing this way. It is free and liberating to be able to go off about any single element in a book and hope that someone out there will feel the same. However, I have tried–and when I mean tried, I mean TRIED–so hard to remember the literary devices they taught us in class to analyze books. But the only methods of analyzing stories that I truly remember how to do are text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world connections. XD

In short, I simply try to be as critical as I can. I know that I do sometimes get into plot movement, character growth, atmosphere, themes, motifs and structure, and some even fancier terms, but if I am completely honest, I don’t always know how to approach them!

The best thing to do is keep trying. Eventually we’ll get the hang of it!

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How I Write Reviews

There are a lot of different styles for writing reviews. I know a lot of people like to do one big review. As if it were a mini essay. And I admire those people because if I were to do that, I would literally just ramble on for days.

Personally, I like to separate and sub-head my reviews. It makes everything neat and I know where I need to put the good and the bad. It’s not always easy to work with because I have to find a way to transition from one topic to another smoothly. Sometimes I give up on subheading entirely and just write what I liked and disliked in two paragraphs (this usually happens when I get stumped or I’m lazy!)

I give a rating out of 5 stars, but allow myself to give .25, .50, .75 rates if need be. (Goodreads should take note!) I give a recommendation for it and then I ask your opinions for discussion!

It’s a really simple format and it works for me! I don’t think my reviews are usually long, unless I have a lot to say about certain things.

In Conclusion….(?)

Basically, I wrote this post to say that it’s okay to write reviews however you want to. It’s a learning process. Your first couple of reviews might suck (mine did), but as you keep reading, you find your own rhythm for spotting points of critique.

If you want to read a really crappy review, take mine! I first reviewed And I Darken by Kiersten White on this site. I basically went off about the characters and the cover and I had the wrong idea about the Vlad the Impaler themes.

And I Darken Review

It’s all about growth my friends. All about the learning!

I Want Your Opinions

How important do you think it is to sound professional in your reviews?

Do you focus your review content on literary devices/techniques?

Have you ever found yourself in a rut and just didn’t know what to write for a book?

How have you grown as a reviewer over the course of your blogging career?

Happy reading and reviewing!

~ Rendz

Let’s Talk Spoilers (In Which There are No Spoilers) | Discussion

Greetings readers!

Ahhhh spoilers. A cause of great drama, pain and probably a lot of unhappiness.  But hey they come with fair warnings right? Wrong, not always. Sometimes spoilers just assault you out of the blue and you can’t unsee what you’ve seen so your scarred for life, baby!

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So let us discuss!

• Spoilers = The Devil’s Spawn OR Spoilers = A Bit of Necessary Info •

~ Confession: I have a secret love for spoilers. ~

Maybe not big ones, but little ones. Spoilers that make me wonder, why?, how?, and increase my intrigue to read a certain book or series! Maybe I “accidentally” scroll through a spoilery review and see a spoiler about the MC having magical abilities, intrigue hits and I press Want-To-Read. Maybe I see another minor spoiler about the  plot. Something that doesn’t give the whole thing away but you know little, little things.

Maybe, I’m one of those people who scavenges for spoilers about books with love triangles to see who I have to root for and not be on the losing side!?! (I totally do this.) Why? BECAUSE I HATE LOVE TRIANGLES BUT I WOULD RATHER BE ON THE WINNING SIDE THAN THE LOSING ONE!!!!!

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I don’t always look for spoilers. But with books that I’m kind of iffy about (or books with triangles) I just want a little bit of necessary info. Let it make me wonder and question and draw to the book to me. Sometimes I end up liking the book, sometimes I still end up on the wrong side of the triangle and sometimes the spoilers bring up things I don’t want to read about and I avoid the book completely.

Little spoilers are okay, but big spoilers.

No.

• Let’s talk about BIG spoilers which actually are the Devil’s Spawn. •

~ The Epic Plot Twist Spoil ~

I have had a couple epic twists spoiled for me, by accident. Both of the big twists in A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir were ruined for me. I was scrolling through Tumblr and she was answering questions about the book and I spotted two huge things that left me going “WHAT?!??” but at the same time “NO?!?!” It kind of ruined the momentum of the book, it was still AMAZING but those two revelations weren’t as epic as they should have been because I was spoiled! >.<

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~ The Character Death Spoil ~

This is actually the worst! I’ve had it happen to me a couple of times. I was spoiled for Crooked Kingdom (by my own fault), The Crown’s Game (by Kez’s fault) and pretty much all the deaths in Throne of Glass (by fault of Pinterest/Tumblr).
It just really sucks to get death-spoiled because then you are already mourning that character and by the time they die, it just doesn’t hit you as hard. I like to be hit hard and cry a little, but death-spoilers ruin this!

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~ The Final Ending Spoil ~

I hardly doubt anyone likes to know the ending of the book while they are reading it. Especially the conclusion of a series. I mean, it kind of defeats the purpose of reading the preceding books if you know how it’s all going to end. At least, that’s how I sometimes feel. Usually I push through and continue reading, but like I don’t have the same enthusiasm!
I know Maz and Kez would just not read the books at all if they spoiled the ending-ending for themselves (Which they do often to avoid long series. I don’t see their logic.)

• The Problem with Me and Spoilers •

I have the worst poker face. THE WORST. My fake smile, shake of the head, or just plain, “neutral” expression gives it all away!

Here’s the thing. I am a great liar when I want to be. (Which may be too often) But when it comes to books/movies/all things fandom, I just cannot keep my composure and I give it all away!

My friends and cousins, especially my cousin will come out and friggin interrogate me about her theories and ideas. Over text, I can keep the secrets but in person, I look guilty…especially when their theories are spot on.

I start sweating:

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My hands get clammy:

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My face gets red:

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And I put on the fakest smile of life!

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At that, my friend/cousin start yelling at me that I’m spoiling it for them, to which I answer: “THEN DON’T ASK ME!”

Moral of the story: I am an automatic spoiler, don’t tell me your theories unless over text because if you see my face, the cat is out of the bag!

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Let me know what you think! Let’s discuss! SPOILERS! Do you voluntarily search for them? Do you religiously avoid them? What books have been spoiled for you? (Please do not give actual spoilers, lol) Do you have a good Spoiler-Poker Face?

I would love to know, so leave me your thoughts!

Happy reading!

~ Rendz