Why We Need More Fictional Bookworms

Bookworms are very strong, they can carry five books in a bag and not complain once. They are also highly intelligent since they spend all their breathing time with their noses stuck in a book. They are dedicated and passionate, this especially becomes obvious when you ask them about their favorite series. Believe me, they will gush infinitely about it, you won’t be able to stop them once they get started.

My point is that bookworms are perfectly capable to slay dragons and save the world, yet they are rarely represented in fiction.

Discussion : Why I Feel Hesitant About Reading Books Set in my Country

Is this going to be controversial? Maybe. Do I have bad intentions with this post? Not really. It’s just my way to get some things off my chest.

I’m from Romania, a little country from Eastern Europe, that seems to be known for few things besides Dracula, therefore the books set in my country are usually about Dracula and not much else??? 

I’m going to be frank with you, I don’t read many books set in Romania because most of the ones that I’ve heard of, turned out to have very bad characterizations. They might have amazing plots and be inspired by a part of my history, but should I feel good about it if the representation is stereotypical or even worse, harmful? 

Discussion : Am I Too Obsessed With Reading?

Hello, everyone! I think you’re all thinking I’m a bit out of my mind as you’re reading this title… I mean, I’m a reader, I’m a book blogger, that’s basically our thing – obsessing over books. But I am here to ask the right questions – am I too obsessed with books? Did I somehow cross the line between what’s normal for any bookworm and reading has taken over my life completely? Maybe. 

This post is totally inspired by everyone in my life. By my cousin who always complains about her older cousin that stays way too much on that ‘annoying’ blog instead of playing with her (forgive her, she’s not even 10 years old yet, she doesn’t understand), by my ex-friend who told me that I’d probably bring a book even to a date (PROBABLY AND I WOULD REGRET NOTHING) and ultimately by my parents, who are always creative about coming up with activities that can get me to do anything else besides reading (I love you, but we all know it’s not working).

Are trigger warnings important?

Hey, lovelies! I’m here with a rather serious discussion – we’re going to talk about trigger warnings and why it’s more important than we might think to add them in our posts and videos and so on.

I’ll start by giving you a brief definition of what a trigger warning is :

a statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc. alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material. (via dictionary.com)

In other words, you’re warning your audience about different sensitive topics that might cause them harm/distress. In our little community, that usually relates to topics that might have been present in the book you’re reviewing, these topics can range from sexual assault, violence, self-harm to racism, homophobia, transphobia and so many more.

Why Blogging Might Be Bad For Your Reading And What You Can Do About That

Hello, lovelies! I’m pretty sure this is the longest title I’ve ever used – I really hope you will read it until the end, bear with me there, people. I’m not sure if it is a book discussion, it’s more of a blogging discussion. I want to talk about the way blogging has affected my reading schedule and how it might interfere with yours as well.

Blogging is soooo evil, keeping us away from reading.

When I started off, I’ve seen some posts about this, bloggers complaining about how blogging affected their pleasure in reading, how now they don’t feel like they read for themselves anymore. And I was very dismissive about it, I remember my reaction very clearly, it was something like :

if you like something, read it; if you don’t, then don’t read it.

It was very simple for me back then as a reader with no blogging responsibilities to dismiss this whole conflict.

But actually, blogging can be really bad for your reading.

I can say that now after 6 months (almost seven, yaay!) of blogging. I’m sorry blogging sisters and brothers for not trusting you back then, you’re real heroes and I admire you very much.

I’ll make a list with dangers that appear in this wild blogging life that will influence your reading schedule.

On College – NA & YA Recommendations

Hello, lovelies! First of all, happy valentine’s day!! I hope you’re having a great time with your beloved! If you’re like me and your beloved is a book, remember to give it lots of hugs and kisses on this special day.

Secondaly, today I’m going to discuss the college representation in Young Adult & New Adult literature and I’ll focus on the differences between the two and what I would love to see more of. I’ll offer examples of the books I’ve read with a college setting and hopefully you wil get some book recommendations along the way.

Discussion : Book Piracy

 

Hello, everyone! I’m starting to feel like I should be starting a column where I write about International Readers/Bloggers and the bullshit they have to deal with in this community. So, to keep up with this trend, today I’m going to talk about piracy and how you should treat it as a complex issue rather than something simple and only related to privilege.

Before I start, I want to tell you that I’m not trying to attack anyone – especially not US readers/authors. I just think we should all be more careful when we’re making hasty claims and stop trying to make a complex issue seem so easy.