Let's Talk About... Reading & Finishing Series

So with all of the new wave of books coming out that are the end to trilogies/series, it's really got me thinking: I suck at completing series. Seriously, I can probably list off a handful (less than ten?) of series that I've actually completed. No joke. And I've compiled a list of reasons as to why I never get to finish series, because I really truly want to. I sometimes get the tugging in the back of my brain, and it's nagging me, constantly whispering, "Don't you want to know what happens to _____ in the end?" I always read the first book in the series… and then I never read the rest. And it's not like the first book is so horrible that I don't want to know what happens after--because frankly, there are a lot of books where I want to know what happens next. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on why I don't finish reading series.

It seems like it's mostly the debuts, but I love starting a new series. There's the sense of a fresh, new start and meeting new characters that is just fascinating. And I usually end up enjoying the first installment. So reason number is… I have to wait too long for the sequel. This seems to be a common issue among all readers. WE NEED THE NEXT BOOK, NOW. Whether it be left on a cliffhanger or not, we like to know what happens next! Maybe I'm just impatient, but I'm curious. And it's not even just that I'm curious, I also start forgetting what happened and all of the little details. Most of the time, what happens for me is that when a sequel comes out, I get really pumped to read it. But then… I get a little wary of picking the book up again because I'm like, "Wait, what was the main character's name again..? AWK." And then I'm thinking, hmm, I'll just put it off. Because honestly, I have a hard time enjoying books when I have no idea who so-and-so is, or what a dadada is. AND THEN I NEVER GET TO FINISH THE SERIES.

And oh, I've tried to remedy this. My thoughts consist of: I'll re-read the first book in the series, and it will jog my memory. The problem is, who has time for re-reads anymore? There's always review books and the books that's hot at the moment, there just isn't time to read a book that you've already read! So of course, this detracts my need to read a sequel that I've seriously been anticipating. I honestly don't remember when I re-read a book (besides Harry Potter). I've thought about series long and hard for awhile now. Should I not start series until they are completely done? But then I have to wait for SUCH a long time for all three to be out, and by then, ERRRbody's already read them and I'll be so behind. And plus, there's always that situation where I read a full series and there's that ONE AUTHOR who decides to add more books to the supposed-to-be-done series. Dilemmas, dilemmas.

Of course, I've still been reading the first books in series because I want to. Recently, after I finish  reading a book and I write the review, I write a summary and a bullet point list of spoilers for myself. It sounds COMPLETELY dorky, but it really helps me rethink the entire book through, and maybe next time when the sequel for a particular book comes out, I can refer to my notes that I took after immediately completing book one.

I guess my main issue with not completing series is that I forget what happened in the previous books, and then I'm too lazy to jog my memory. But tell me:

Do you tend to finish series? Do you read them immediately after the release date, or do you read them all at once, once they're all published? Do you have any strategies to help remember what happened in the previous books? Or do you just go into the sequel, hoping that it will jog your memory immediately? Should I wait patiently for entire series to come out to read them? Talk to me, people! <3

In case you're curious, here are just some of the series/sequels that I haven't finished (a.k.a, your chance to slap me silly for not finishing these)

• The Chemical Garden Trilogy (Fever, Sever)
• Angel Trilogy (Angel Burn)
• Hex Hall Trilogy (Spellbound)
• Revenants Trilogy (Until I Die)
• Across the Universe Trilogy (A Million Suns, Shades of Earth
• Unearthly Trilogy (Hallowed, Boundless)
• Divergent Trilogy (INSURGENT….)
• Angelfire Trilogy (Wings of the Wicked, Shadows in the Silence)
• Hush, Hush Saga (Finale)
• Mara Dyer Trilogy (The Evolution of Mara Dyer)

(You get the idea. *hides in corner*)

Happy discussing (and reading series!),

Jen xx

Let's Talk About... Reading Slumps

Yes... 'Reading slump.'  The words every blogger dreads.  It's like a poison, slowly infiltrating you and preventing you from finishing books in good time and writing reviews.  And I'm experiencing one right now!

I really do hate this feeling.  I very much want to get through the books in my review pile but something just seems to be holding me back.  Some sort of lack of motivation to read twenty or so pages.  I'm quite busy with life right now and whenever I do get a little free time, I feel inclined to just lie on the sofa and watch TV or go on the Internet.  Does this make me a bad blogger?  

School has put me under a lot of pressure lately, with endless piles of homework and fast-approaching tests.  And when I do pick up a book, I feel bad for not studying.  Then there's the need for piano and violin practise which I have been neglecting - as much as I hate to admit.  And don't even get me on to my social life - which is practically non-existent right now if you must know.  All of this, LIFE, is getting in the way on top of this horrid reading slump and here I am now, desperate to claw my way out and be a better blogger.

Being busy seems to add fuel to the fire of reading-slumpiness :(  You've probably all noticed that I haven't been around much lately (have ya missed me?) and I do wish I had more time to come round and visit your blogs and chat to you on Twitter everyday but it's just NOT doable. 

Reading slumps are such awful things and I know most bloggers have been through it.  So what did YOU do to get out of it?  Any of you have magical cures to this disgusting blogger disease?  Lemme know!  All suggestions will be very much appreciated!

And I can't write this without lots of hugs and thank you's to Jen who has been the best co-blogger in every way.  She has been absolutely wonderful and so, so patient with me in the past few weeks.  Thanks a million, Jen, for bearing with me!!! I don't think this blog would be as good right now if it weren't for your amazingly steady presence!

Happy reading - hopefully none of you are going through reading slumps like me!

Beverley x

Let's Talk About.. Blogging: Back In the Day v.s. Now

It's been nagging me for quite some time now. Many of you know that I actually started book blogging a year ago, but from back then, I've jumped from blog to blog. At the time, blogging was really different. Do not get me wrong, I am in no way stating that I am an "old blogger", or "professional blogger", or that I have tons of experience. I've just noticed a lot of change in the blogging atmosphere. Quite frankly, it scares me a bit.

Do you remember, a year ago, when blogging was all about sharing your love for books with other book nerds? Do you remember the joy and carefree-ness of it all? Is it the same today? Sure, most bloggers still find it extremely fun and they treat it like a hobby. But others, I feel… have unintentionally changed the reason why they started blogging. And that reason is to get advanced reader copies/review copies. People are getting greedy. A year ago, I started blogging because I loved talking about books. And somewhere along the way... honestly, I feel like I've fallen into the trap… to get books. It scares me that I REALIZE I'm blogging to get free books. IT'S TERRIBLE. I must change this.

To be honest, I think at least half of the bloggers out there share my terrible problem. So much drama has happened and people have gotten so demanding that I think it's just CHANGED everyone in some way or another. With more bloggers joining the blogosphere each day, blogs are becoming more competitive. These days, it's all "Bloggers who get the most books for review are the most popular blogs." At least, that's what I think. And then I think, all the little or less-known blogs have to try to live up to that, and people just start gaining followers the wrong way to become that "bigger blog".

Again, the greed. People are just starting to grab as many ARCs as possible and that's just… wrong. Like I said, I've fallen into this very trap. Awhile ago, I got all obsessed in getting review copies, because of wanting to live up to those "bigger blogs". But now, I'm just stressed and it's making blogging not-so-much fun. I've decided for myself that I definitely need to hold off on review copies for awhile.. if you think about it, it is completely disrespectful to the publishers out there who have provided us readers with review copies, and then you just.. don't review them? Yeah, not cool. 

My point is, I think every blogger should just sit down, and think for a minute. How has the book blogging society changed you? Do you need to take a breather and hold off on review copies? What about you bloggers who were around a year ago? Do you think the blogoverse has changed? In what way?

**All opinions are my own.**

HAPPY reading,

Jen xx

Let's Talk About... Plagiarism

You're probably thinking this topic is talked about too much after the whole drama concerning one of the 'big' blogs.  I won't be going into that since it happened months ago and I don't really want to be caught up in it.  I wasn't even planning on talking about plagiarism here... But I was plagiarized and I feel if I don't let it all out, I'm going to explode and do something rash like stop blogging for a few weeks.

So... plagiarism.  I didn't think much of it when the topic went viral across the blogosphere. I was still in my happy bubble surrounded by a bunch of other lovely bloggers, thinking it would never affect me.  I mean, who's gonna want to plagiarize me?

This all changed.  I was scrolling through my Dashboard and saw a review for a book that I had recently read and enjoyed.   Interested to see what this blogger thought of it, I clicked on it.  To my utter shock, the review felt startling familiar and upon further inspection, I discovered at least half of it had the EXACT same words as mine with some other sentences tweaked here and there.  First I was horrified followed by complete rage and utter FURY.  How dare someone copy my review?

I emailed the blogger with a request that she take down the review immediately.  The next day, I got her reply... I think this bit pissed me off as much as her copying my work.  She said, 'I know this may sound lame but sometimes you don't realise you are plagiarising...'  Her words, not mine. *Holds in anger*  The second part of her email said this: 'I do admit that a tiny bit I did know I had copied; but that was genuinely because I knew what I wanted to write but I couldn't think of any other way of saying it.'

*Lets out anger* What the hell?!  If she had taken full responsibility and made it clear that she acknowledged she was frikkin' plagiarizing, I wouldn't be this angry since she did apologise and she took down the review.  But still.  Do you think I'm stupid?  Do you think I actually believe you didn't know what you were doing?  Don't even try to deny it.  I am absolutely sure you were fully aware that you were copying me, how can you copy someone and not know?  You made the conscious decision to take my work and pass it off as your own.  Even taking someone's writing and tweaking the words a little is classed as plagiarism (as we all learned a few months ago) let alone taking huge chunks and leaving it totally unedited so that parts are identical to mine.  If you really need to plagiarize, at least don't be lazy about it.

And that second part made me want to pull my hair out and laugh at the same time.  Plagiarizing proves that you don't have your own ideas or thoughts at all.  Oh, because of course my way was the only way to say it.  Personally, I think my reviews are a bit cheesy and I do try to make them more intricate so I am 100% positive no one writes exactly the way I write because I'm a bit weird when writing reviews :/  And OH MY GOD, I always find it hard to put my thoughts into words but do I go and look up someone else's review and think to myself 'Oh, she pinpointed my thoughts perfectly so I'm just gonna copy and paste.'?  No, because I don't want to be labelled a cheat or a thief.  No, I sit at the computer drumming my fingers and make the effort to write an honest and thorough review.  It's a bloody cheek to say you had to copy mine because I had managed to word your thoughts.  I'm sorry but plagiarists know more than a 'tiny bit' that they are copying.  What compels you to take something that someone obviously spent a lot of time on and claim it as your own?  It's just un-believable... It's also unacceptable.  School doesn't accept it, the exam boards don't accept it. No-ONE accepts it!!!

And how can you say you write honest reviews when the words you post aren't even your own? Another thing, when someone emails you to let you know you've been guilty of plagiarism, at least have the decency to take full responsibility and don't give them a lousy excuse.  It's pretty low -.-

I detest all the blogging drama that's been going on and I'm still wondering how the hell I got caught in this one.  I have so much respect for bloggers and to be honest, I fully trust everyone.  I'm not wary at all that someone might come along and 'snatch' my review.  And there are so many amazing people out there who never fail to impress me with their hard work and dedication and I hate how some people completely ruin the image of the blogging community.  I don't appreciate people who betray my trust.  I am just thankful I have a bunch of wonderful blogging friends who would NEVER do such a thing to hurt people like this.

This discussion kinda turned into a rant -.-

What do you think of plagiarism? Have you ever been plagiarized before?  How did you deal with it?

I hope this never ever happens again.  I don't think I'd be able to take it without busting a vessel or something.  So yeah, if you even try to plagiarize me or anyone else, think again.  Would you want someone to plagiarize you?

**Update: Something has just been brought to my attention.  This blogger has 're-written' her review: I sent her an email with a document which highlighted in colour the identical-ness of our reviews and she has only bothered to change around the words of the sentences that I highlighted.  Wow - plagiarism at its peak -.-  Sincerity would be appreciated**

Let's Talk About... Co-blogging

Recently, I've started thinking about taking someone on to co-blog with me.  The reason being that I will be going into a pretty important year at school after summer so I probably won't have as much time to update the blog frequently.  The prospect of shutting down the blog and stopping blogging entirely is AWFUL.  I've made so many new blogging friends since returning from my hiatus and I don't intend to leave the blogosphere - you can't get rid of me that easily ;)

I have a few worries about taking on a co-blogger.  What if I end up not getting on with her? I've thought about putting them on a trial basis.  Would this be a bit harsh? I know it would be better to have someone I already know but I none of my friends like reading and I don't think they'd want to blog with me.  

Suppose we did get on well, what if there's something I don't like about their reviews?  I know everyone has their own style and I have no right to tell someone to do this or that but it's still my blog and I am somewhat of a perfectionist - which can be very annoying sometimes!  The wonderful Eileen suggested I could get the people who sign up to write a guest review so I can get an idea of their style etc.  (Thanks for the help, Eileen - it was very useful!)  And if the person has no experience with using Blogger, I'd be more than happy to show them the 'ropes' but should you trust someone with your password so they can access all areas of your blog? 


And how can you work well together?  I'm guessing you'd have to be in regular contact through email to decide who does what each week.  Since I'm a bit obsessed with checking my emails, I don't think that would be a problem.  However, I'm a procrastinator. I don't plan ahead or schedule so maybe I'll have to change my 'ways' in order for everything to work out.


Say we get on really well and the schedule of the blog is perfectly organised between us, what if there are books we both want to read and review?  How can we split it fairly? Should we write a joint review? I kinda have this thought that since I founded the blog and everything, I should get the first say but I want my co-blogger to have fun too, I don't want to end up being a grouchy, bossy thing who crashes the party -.-  But then what if the co-blogger 'takes over' everything?


I'm not even sure if anyone will want to blog with me but I'm thinking of posting a form (a few weeks after school starts) for people to sign up if they're interested.  I'm still not entirely sure if I want to go down this path but if you know anyone who likes reviewing but doesn't want to commit to their own blog, send them my way!  


So, please please PLEASE leave me your thoughts on co-blogging.  Do you think it would be a fun thing to do since it takes off some of the pressure on yourself? If you co-blog, I would appreciate it if you could tell me the highs and lows of co-blogging and what you do to make it work well.

I know this is meant to be a discussion but I've just realised I've asked a LOT of questions so any tips or advice will be highly appreciated!

Happy reading,
Beverley x