Thursday Thoughts || Love Triangles

Hi! Ahhh! It's currently 11:30pm on a Thursday... and I'm writing Thursday Thoughts. I am so, so sorry about how late this is getting up. It's the first time I've legitimately spaced and forgotten about writing Thursday Thoughts. I think we should take this as a sign.. Clearly I've been struggling a bit with posting Thursday Thoughts and sticking to my schedule. We've done this meme for over 30 weeks now and if that's not an accomplishment, I don't know what is! That's roughly seven months, you guys! But, I think maybe it's time to take a small hiatus from Thursday Thoughts. Think of it as a sort of.. Summer vacation for this meme.. except not in the Summertime. In a little while, after time has ironed out my life and things calm down, we'll come back better than ever. I hope this is okay with all of you and that I won't be letting you down. I still do intend to be active on my blog and BookTube channel as much as possible, so don't worry about that. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement with this series, though. My blog wouldn't be what it is today without Thursday Thoughts and you all make this meme what it is. So, again, thank you all so much.

I guess, without further ado, we should get into this week's Thursday Thoughts then. First of all, if you don't know, this is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. Gosh, I'll miss doing that little spiel for a while. This just got really sappy. This week's topic is a great one; love triangles!

I've noticed in my time as a blogger and vlogger that some people have very, super strong opinions on the topic of love triangles. I can definitely see why, but before joining this community the idea that it was such a big problem never quite occurred to me. Considering that I read almost exclusively Young Adult books, it's definitely a bit more prevalent. As far as I'm concerned, roughly 45% of YA books have a love triangle in them. Especially if they're Contemporary. Again, that's just my opinion, but I think it's pretty on the nose. Why is that? What is it about love triangles that makes them so "popular" among YA authors? And, what makes people dislike them so much?

To be honest, I'm typically not all that bothered by love triangles as long as they're realistic to a certain degree. I've not even noticed that many love triangles in books that I've actually read. I know there are a ton in pop-culture YA novels. The ones you hear a lot about. I read Twilight in 6th grade and hated it ever since... Sorry, not sorry. But, I'm going to venture out to say that that is an example of one of the most cliche, obvious, DUMB (I'm sorry, I'll calm down..) love triangles. It's just a little too.. yeah.. too much. I don't know, man. There's also The Hunger Games, that's a love triangle, right? I didn't read that series, but I'm pretty sure there's a love triangle. I've gone on a weird listing movies tangent and now I'm rambling.. Back on track, now.

Basically, I just think that Twilight being SO popular and so well known potentially mucked up love triangles for future YA books. That's not to say that all love triangles are as bad as Twilight, but there's definitely a bad connotation now. To be fair, I can't think of any good love triangles off the top of my head.. and maybe that's saying something. More or less, I think they CAN be done well, but it's difficult to reach that point. For that reason, I think maybe it would be safer and make more sense for authors-- specifically YA authors-- to try and stay away from that love triangle cliche unless they have the balls and the talent to go there. And that, my friends, is my opinion on the matter.

The fact that I'm about to wrap up the final Thursday Thoughts for quite some time not forever. let me make that perfectly clear! is actually really sad and sort of depressing. I promise I'll bring this back as soon as possible. It won't be more than a few months at the very most. In the meantime, subscribe to my Twitter (@okletsread) and follow this blog so you don't miss Thursday Thought's triumphant return. I can't wait to see you then. Make sure to link up in the linky below so you can share your opinion on love triangles and thank you for being here and sharing in my Thursday Thoughts fun. I appreciate all of you more than you even know. Don't forget to come back when we revamp this series! I'm already excited for it. And, with that.. I guess all I can say is; See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Reader Probs

Hi! Hello! Welcome to my blog and to basically the only feature I ever do anymore. This is Thursday Thoughts! Wooo~ If you don't already know, this is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! We would really, seriously, love to have you. I want to, as usual, take this time to invite all of you lovely people to give me any ideas you might have for future Thursday Thoughts topics. As you know, my creative juices are lacking and the input from you guys is always greatly appreciated! Also, I want to quickly thank those of you who come back here each and every week and participate. You are the reason that Thursday Thoughts happens and I appreciate each and every one of you!

So, now that I've rambled as much as I usually do, let's get right into the meat of this lovely meme. Our topic this week is "Reader Probs." I almost make it #ReaderProbs and then decided that would be a little bit too cheesy... But, pretend in your brain that it's #ReaderProbs because I still like that. :P This is basically your opportunity to point out some of the whiny things you whine about regarding books and reading. The inspiration was essentially the #firstworldproblems hashtag. So, think of it like that.. but with books!

I'm a naturally whiny person in general. I'm someone who has trouble knowing when not to speak and has trouble dealing with things that in hind sight may not truly be the end of the world as I know it. But, I mean.. in that moment I SERIOUSLY DIE WHEN STARBUCKS RUNS OUT OF PUMPKIN SPICE. Okay, so that was a little over-dramatic, and you know I'm kidding maybe. But, you get the picture. When it comes to books I can be just as melodramatic since reading is something I like to do and do often. As far as whiny problems, I definitely become distraught when a book gets banged up (even slightly) or has bent corners or a messed up dust jacket. I LEGITIMATELY hate deckled edges. And, you would not believe how often I have to fix the smallest little imperfection as far as the lineup of my books on my bookshelf goes.

I definitely experience book hangovers. Being that I'm a very emotional person, I have a tendency to cry and books and connect deeply with the characters. I know that when I finish a book that I REALLY loved or that REALLY impacted me, it can stick with me for a while and sometimes even cause a minor slump. That's when #readerprobs comes in. ;) Another great example of this is when characters that I become so, so, super attached to in a book are killed off. It's almost like.. that author had the AUDACITY to kill off someone whom I was, like, basically in a relationship with. It hurts, man. Okay, so, again that was a little extreme.. but I think you definitely get the picture.

To sum up this ranty, whiny, shockingly short (I'm sorry!) Thursday Thoughts post, books are ruining my life and also making it what it is. If it weren't for books my life would be so much better in a multitude of ways... But, books also enrich my life in so many aspects of the word. Reading can change my mood entirely, but sometimes that's for the better. I guess what I'm trying to say is that EVERYONE should be a reader... at their own risk. ;)

I hope you guys enjoyed this week's weirdly short, preachy Thursday Thoughts. I wasn't expecting it to come out this way, but I'm rather happy with it. If you're sad that this is a little shorter than usual and feel like you need more Thursday Thoughts goodness in your life, you should TOTALLY go check out all the lovely links left in the linky down below! That's what it's for and I think all those awesome people would appreciate your input on their opinions this week as well. Thanks again for stopping by! Don't forget to give me some more topic ideas and also to join us next week where we'll be talking about "Love Triangles!" Ooh... juicy. It's going to be a good one, guys. I can feel it. Don't miss you! See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Bookish Fandoms

Hello, hello, hello! It's already October, you guys! That is absolutely insane and my mind is definitely blown. Let's ring in the new month with another session of your favorite meme; Thursday Thoughts! This is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! As I said last week, I'm still in a little bit of a rut as far as coming up with new topics goes. I did get a few, but not nearly enough. So, get those creative juices flowing and toss some more Thursday Thoughts topic ideas my way. I know you've got them in you! As for today, our topic is Bookish Fandoms! Who's ready?! I know I am.

When I hear the word fandom, I immediately think of myself. I've always had an obsessive personality and I've always loved books, TV shows and movies. In other words, I'm the ideal Tumblr user.. But, in all seriousness, I've always considered myself a crazy fangirl. Fandoms make me feel safe, connected and part of a community. I think that's an amazing thing. As far as TV show, movie, and music fandoms and such, I'm a Gleek (first and foremost), a Big Brother fanatic, a Oncer, a Teen Wolf fan (although I haven't watched this season), a Hunter (Supernatural Fan; but, I'm only up to season 7), a Disney fan, a little monster (Lady Gaga fan), a.. reluctant Directioner and a proud part of the 5SOS Fam. In other words, I'm a manic with little to no life.

So, when you take into account how many other fandoms I consider myself a part of, it's clear to assume that I'm also a part of bookish fandoms since books are such a large part of my life. Let's take a little glance at my Twitter profile and see what sort of insight that gives us, shall we? Now, I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a part of all the fandoms mentioned in my Twitter bio, but I'm definitely a big fan.

If you aren't completely clear on the books mentioned over there, let me run through them really quickly. I first say that I'm a "Reader. Blogger. BookTuber." Well, clearly those aren't fandoms. Those are just the bookish things I do. Next I say I'm a Slytherin and, unless you live under a rock, I'm sure you know what that means. I'm in Slytherin house in the Harry Potter universe. Here's where we get technical; I wouldn't consider myself a Potter-Head because, although I like Harry Potter, I don't obsess over it as much as a lot of people do. The next one says I'm peculiar. By this point in our relationship, I'm sure you know that Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is my favorite book. Although I do love and obsess over that book, I've never produced any sort of fan art or anything of that nature. In fact, I don't think I've ever really done that for any fandom I've been a part of. However, I still consider myself a part of the Miss Peregrine's fandom if there is one. Finally, I say that I'm in Candor. If you don't know, Candor is one of the factions in the Divergent trilogy and by far the one I belong the most in. But, again, I'm not a big enough fan of those books to really consider myself a part of the fandom.

I think my not wanting to truly say I'm a part of certain fandoms because I'm "not a big enough fan" stems from my Glee obsession. The Gleeks are my people and definitely the fandom I've been in the longest (followed by the Jonas Brothers fandom which died sometime last year). I've participated more in that fandom than any other. And for those reasons, I sometimes feel I have the right to judge whether people are "true Gleeks." That sounds mean, and I would never say it to their face, but you know what I mean. For example, someone who says "Oh my god, [inset character/actor here] is so annoying. They drive me nuts." is definitely not a true Gleek. Anyway, where this rambling was trying to go was to say that I think people have a right to be that way. I wouldn't want to impose on a fandom that I didn't think I could play a big enough roll in, so I keep my distance if I need to, It's the safest way to have a good time!

And, I think that is that for this week's very rambly Thursday Thoughts. I can't wait to hear what all of you guys have to say on this week's topic! Are you in any bookish fandoms? Do you agree with the things I've said here? What about fandom art or music?! I really want to hear what you all have to say this week, so make sure to make your own posts or comment below! Also, don't forget to come back next week where we'll be discussing "Reader Probs." See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Novellas

Hey, friends! Let me once again bring up the fact that Thursday Thoughts has been going on for quite sometime now and I'm really lacking in creativity. If you have any ideas for future Thursday Thoughts topics, please please send them my way! You can do so through comments on this post, the main Thursday Thoughts page, by tweeting me or even emailing me if you're feeling really crazy. Just make sure that if you are new to our little family that you check the previous topics so you won't recommend something we've already done. Thank you so, so much in advance because I know I can count on your guys for this sort of thing.

If you are new to Thursday Thoughts, let me give your our little spiel. This is an original, interactive, weekly meme. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! We would love, love, love to have you! Also, thank you to everyone's nice comments last week. You were all very understanding when my post was up mid-day on Thursday instead of at midnight. I really appreciated it. Anyway, let's just get right into the magic. Today's topic is novellas! Now, if I'm being honest I have a somewhat limited knowledge of books that aren't Young Adult. That being said, I'm willing to bet that 100% of the series I've heard of that include novellas have been YA. So, all my comments in this post will be based on my experience with YA novellas.

I'm honestly the sort of person who has a tendency to lose interest in series'. That's not to say I don't enjoy them either. There are many, many books that I've LOVED, but have yet to read the sequel and books beyond that. A perfect example would be Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children or The Archived. If you've been following me for a while you probably know that those are two of my very favorite books. However, I haven't read the sequel to either of them. Why? I really, honestly don't know. Probably because I'm lazy. I own the sequels and have every intention of reading them eventually. I just.. haven't done that yet. With that in mind, I'm sure you can see why I think novellas can get a little.. redundant? On-going? Unnecessary?

To be fair, there are a lot of novellas (that I haven't read) where I really love the premise. I love the idea that a novella can get you into the mind of a character you wouldn't get to understand on that sort of level otherwise. Take for example, Four. That book is a series of four novellas from Four's perspective. I love that concept! (Despite the fact that I haven't read them yet.) Maybe not the best example for this... but, still. I feel like authors can explore uncharted territory when it comes to novellas. It's like a little add-on piece that enhances the reader's experience.

Although, there are times when the novellas become essential reads. That's when I feel like things get a little dodgy. I believe I'm going to be correct in my next few statements, but please do tell me if I'm wrong. In the Shatter Me series (I feel like there might be a name for that that I'm blanking on?) and in the Throne of Glass series, there are novellas in which important plot events take place. The idea that you need to read a novella to get the whole story is sort of.. annoying to me? I don't know. Maybe I'm just crazy. As you probably also know, I LOVE The Lunar Chronicles series. It's my favorite series by far, however I haven't read all of the novellas! I've only read one or two of them and they come before each book. That being said, it's a-okay that I have neglected to read the novellas/found time to do so because they aren't essential to the plot. And that? I like.

In short, I feel like novellas should be a fun, little add-on to a series. Clearly, I haven't read all that many and none of the ones I have read are really worth mentioning. I do not by any means think they're necessary, nor do I particularly enjoy them. Then again, like I said, maybe I'm just crazy. I prefer for novellas or short stories in a series to be non-essential to the plot for the sake of my apparently non-existent sanity. Like I said before, I think I'm just lazy. And on that note, I think we can safely say this has been another successful Thursday Thoughts! I can't wait to hear your opinions on this topic considering I think mine will be rather unpopular. I'm also super looking forward to your suggestions for future Thursday Thoughts topics! Don't forget to come back next week where we'll be discussing "Bookish Fandoms!" I'm really excited for that one. See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Where Do You Read?

Hi! Look! I'm here! I'm so sorry that this is later than usual this week. I hope that it didn't throw anyone off. I simply lost track of time last night and have felt sort of all over the place lately. In addition to that, I should be getting ready right now and doing my makeup, so I'm in a bit of a hurry. Hopefully that doesn't effect the quality of this post. I'll definitely be tweeting out when this post goes live, so I hope you all are aware now that it's up. Also, I want to quickly plug that the post before this has a giveaway in it! So, if you're interested in that you should definitely go check it out and possibly enter to win! This is a Thursday Thoughts post, though! So, let's get on with it! If you don't know, this is an interactive, original, weekly meme here on my blog. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! We would LOVE to have you.

Today's topic is a bit less heavy than our other recent topics. We'll be talking about where you all read! This is actually a perfect topic for this week since I honestly don't have all that much to say on the topic. Unfortunately, my reading location doesn't change hardly ever. I spend 99.99% of my reading time exactly where I spend 99.99% of my blog post writing time; in my bed. That doesn't make me lazy, either! I just love my bed. It's comfortable, reassuring and calm. In addition to that, I'm definitely not the kind of person who will fall asleep just because I'm in bed. If I'm wrapped up in reading or some other activity, I cannot just fall asleep. I need to consciously put the book on the table in order for that to happen. I feel the most at peace and relaxed doing things like reading my bed, so that's where I spend the majority of my time!

I would love nothing more than to tell you that I spend all my time reading and working and all those activities in the local Starbucks sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte and listening to soothing music. It is that time of year, after all. And, it's no secret how much I love Fall and everything that comes along with it. But, to be honest, I don't even leave the house enough for that. I think it really has to do with my insecurities. I'm not afraid to read in public, that's not it at all. My problem is actually that I'm a little bit too self conscious for that. I can't let myself leave the house without doing my makeup and when I want to read, I just want to read. I don't have time to do my whole getting ready routine just to go read for an hour. It just seems silly.

And, I suppose that's all I have to say! I told you this would be a short one. I sincerely hope you don't mind all that much. I can't wait to hear where you guys read! Don't forget to link up below or comment to let me know! Also, don't forget to check out my most recent post (before this one) for a Falls the Shadow giveaway! Join us next week, right here, as we talk about 'Novellas!' I'll see you then.

Thursday Thoughts || Cover Changes

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! This is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! We would love to have you in the family! I've been SUPER busy this week, so I apologize if it shows in my post. My birthday is actually tomorrow (eeeep! excitement and fear. excitement and fear.) And, two days ago I got myself an AMAZING birthday gift by ordering my very own Erin Condren Life Planner! I cannot wait to receive it. If any of you are planner nerds, I can only imagine you know how excited I am for that. I might as well take this moment to do a quick little plug. Erin Condren makes adorable and VERY useful planners, notebooks, planner accessories and all sorts of other things like that. They even have candles! It is a little on the pricier side, but if you're interested I would definitely check them out because it's totally worth it considering the quality. If you use my affiliate link, HERE, you can get $10 off your first purchase as well as $10 off for me! It would be a great birthday gift. *wink, wink* So, now that I've rambled on enough (I'm just SO excited) let's get on with the actual topic this week; Cover Changes!

As I've mentioned in many Thursday Thoughts in the past, I'm a very OCD person (see the planner ramble above) especially when it comes to my books. I'm not ashamed in the slightest to admit that I'm one of those people who DESPISES mid-series cover changes. I also want to quickly mention mid-series HEIGHT changes. Like, why? Did you really need to change the height of the book? Honestly? I need the books on my bookshelf to look as perfect as they possibly can at all times. It will irk me to no end if even one thing isn't as I like it. (Speaking of my books, I got a bookshelf from my mom for my birthday! You can see my video about it HERE.)

In my prompt for this week, I also mentioned movie-tie-in covers. Personally, I feel like these are hit or miss (usually miss.) For the most part, movie covers won't bother me, but it may deter me slightly from picking up that edition of the book. I know this is the one that everyone is thinking of, so I'll bring up the new, movie cover for The Fault in Our Stars. Personally, this is one of the best movie covers I have ever, ever seen. They did a great job casting the film and a great job picking a photo for this cover. Obviously that doesn't mean all movie covers are good, but it's definitely something to appreciate in this instance.

Finally, I figured this post could use some more excited rambling (as if I didn't do enough in the first paragraph,) so now I'm going to share with you some of my very favorite book covers! Up first? The Splintered series by A.G. Howard! I haven't read any of these yet, but I do own the ones that are out. I think these covers (especially as a whole series) are phenomenal. The writing on the spines is even perfect. The writing on the spine of Splintered is red to go with the cover of Ensnared and the writing on the spine of Unhinged is green to go with the cover of Splintered and... the writing on the spine of Ensnared is yellow to go with nothing. But, I guess it kind of matches the cover of Unhinged's accents. Still, GUH!

Other covers I love? We couldn't leave out my favorite series of all time; The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer! If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE this series with a fiery passion. It should come as no surprise that I also adore the covers! They're simplistic, yet whimsical and just gorgeous. I can't wait to see the cover for Winter next year. I literally cannot wait.

Lastly, some of my favorite standalone covers. We have the lovely To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, the beautiful These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner and the dark A Monster Calls by, my dude, Patrick Ness.

Do you agree with any of my favorite covers?! What are some of yours? And, how do you feel about cover changes overall? Let me know in the comments! Also, don't forget to join us next Thursday when we'll be talking about where we read! See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Audiobooks

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! If you're new, this is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. We would love to have you! I first want to very quickly address that I've been totally MIA. You may or may not have even noticed, but I feel like it's getting to the point where I say this on my blog a lot and I'm trying so hard to overcome it. I just get so distracted and interested in other things that my blog, YouTube and, most importantly, reading seem to fall by the wayside. Again, like I said, I'm REALLY going to try and get back to normal. The only thing that's been constant on my blog lately has been Thursday Thoughts, so let's just get on with it! This week's topic is, once again, an idea from you guys; audiobooks!

My opinion is this; I think audiobooks are seriously great! I most recently listened to The Fault in Our Stars in audiobook form in preparation for the movie. I don't think I would have read it in time if it weren't for my listening to the audiobook. In my opinion, the two most beneficial things about audiobooks are that they help you read quicker and that you can multi-task. While reading, you unfortunately can't get any other things done. That's one of my biggest problems with reading, to be honest. I do like that I can get swept up in a world and lost in a story, but sometimes I just have other things to do! I think if I listened to audiobooks more often than I currently do I would be more motivated to blog/make videos and I would be getting more reading done, to be honest! So, maybe I should take my own advice.

I know it's been a huge trend over the last few years for audible.com to sponsor certain YouTubers. It seems now-a-days that you can't get through a video without there being a quick little plug for the website (that or NatureBox.) Personally, I don't really have a problem with that. In fact, I've considered making an Audible account for myself many times. I just haven't really flipped the switch on that one yet. Sooner or later I will. If you don't know, Audible is a website and app that has a giant library of audiobooks you can listen to. It's a monthly subscription service and depending on how much you pay you can listen to a certain number of books per month. Why is this something I really enjoy? I think the fact that Audible exists and that it's getting so much buzz is AMAZING because it's getting a ton more people into reading. I'd be rich if I had a dime for every time I heard a YouTuber say "I don't usually have time to read, but I do listen to one audio book a month on Audible." It's true! And, I really think that's something important to note.

Now, like I said, I recently listened to The Fault in Our Stars by John Green on audiobook. That was the first audiobook I've listened too in quite some time, but in the past I also recall listening to one of Ellen DeGeneres' books. I think that listening to audiobooks read by the author (especially comedic books like Ellen's) is a great way to enhance the experience of the book. I would definitely recommend that. I also remember in high school, listening to audio versions of my Summer reading books on the website LibriVox. Basically, LibriVox is a public domain where people can record themselves reading books and post it for anyone to listen to for free. It's really fantastic, but the only downside is that the library they have on there isn't exactly ideal. It's all stuff from the public domain, so for the most part the books are older classics. Finally, I recall in childhood listening to audiobooks with my mom and sister. We would listen to Harry Potter in the car or even just in our living room. I especially remember we would always listen to a book when we went on family trips and stuff like that when I was a lot younger. All in all, audiobooks have always been kind of present in my life.

In a nutshell, I think that audiobooks are phenomenal. The whole idea of a book on tape is something that I think has changed our society. They're definitely not a replacement for actual reading overall, but I think they can be a stepping stone or a helpful tool in your reading journey. I would recommend people who don't read all that much but want to get into reading to listen to some audiobooks. I would recommend people who have too much to do but want to read more to listen to some audiobooks. Hell, I would recommend myself to listen to some audiobooks and I think I just might do that. I hope you all enjoyed this week's Thursday Thoughts! Join us next week where we'll talk about "Cover Changes"! See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || The Power of Social Media

Yay! It's time again for Thursday Thoughts! If you don't already know the little spiel, Thursday Thoughts is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a point, link up and join the conversation! We would love to hear what you have to say. Join us, join us~ *becomes a mindless drone* Whoa. What just happened..? Anyways, our topic this week is "the power of social media" dealing with books and authors, of course. I don't know about you all, but I made a Twitter just for bookish things when I made my blog and I know that that has been something SUPER integral to the heart and soul of Ok, Let's Read from the start.

It's no secret that social media is important now-a-days. In nearly every aspect of life-- especially pop-culture related-- Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or even Facebook (Yes, I'm as shocked as you are that Facebook is still a thing) will pop up. Personally, I think Twitter is the strongest social media platform at the moment. Everyone has a Twitter. Everyone uses Twitter. And, Twitter is an AMAZING way to connect. In the bookish world that connection can be made with authors, publishers, fellow bloggers/vloggers, followers/subscribers and just other people who like to read! It's an amazing tool and it's honestly changed the way the internet works. For all those reasons, I think that everyone should have a Twitter because it will honestly change the way you live your bookish life.

I think that authors are some of the people who can benefit the most from having a Twitter. As reviewers, we already spend all of our time on the internet, but authors sometimes need to be pushed by their "people" to even make a Twitter. I think that it can help them out in awesome ways. It's a super easy way to get the word out about a new book or get input from readers. In fact, I think we also benefit highly from authors and publishers having social media. Readers know better than anyone what could make a book that much better. And, we're passionate about it at the same time. I know that I love the idea of my suggestions helping out an author and in turn making a better final product.

Personally, I've not interacted with nearly enough authors or publishers on Twitter. Most of the time I stick with other bloggers and vloggers as I think of them on "my level." However, that's the nice thing about social media! It actually puts the authors or publishers on "your level" and I think that's just really awesome. Recently I used Twitter for one of the most mundane (but helpful) things. I never could have done this before social media. I read and LOVED the book Hexed by Michelle Krys, but I noticed that neither I nor any of my fellow BookTubers knew the proper pronunciation of her last name. So, I just asked her on Twitter! Turns out it's like Chris.

And, lastly for a more fangirly comment.. I use Twitter to creep on my favorite authors. I don't know if you all know this, but I have a minor obsession with the lovely Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. And, I must say, he has a fabulous Twitter. It's exactly what you'd expect from a quirky (wink wink, see what I did there?) guy like him. If you want a laugh, you should definitely check it out HERE. Another funny author on Twitter? Patrick Ness. Such quality tweets. Seriously. Check them out HERE.

And, I think that's all I have to say on that! Sorry if this Thursday Thoughts felt a little rushed! I've been busy this week and am unfortunately writing this at the last minute! I hope you'll forgive me. And, I hope you'll join us this time next week to discuss the topic of "Audiobooks!" See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Advanced Reader Copies

Hey, hey, hey! It's time once again for Thursday Thoughts! I apologize if this week is a bit all over the place. I feel like I'm not exactly in the right mindset to write a Thursday Thoughts post. There's nothing wrong or anything, I'm just kind of feeling off right now so I hope this post goes alright. I would write it at another time, but I'm.. basically running out of time to write it! Haha. Anyways, Thursday Thoughts is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. If you didn't know, anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join in the conversation! In fact, we highly encourage you to do so. I love reading everyone's opinions on our topics. Speaking of topics, this week's is Advanced Reader Copies or ARCs! I can't believe we haven't done this topic yet. I think the reason I was hesitant is because no necessarily everyone will have things to say about them. Coming from someone like myself who does have quite a bit to say about ARCs, I feel like it's kind of one way or another. Either you know nothing about them or you have A LOT to say. I hope this topic isn't a bad one for any of you. Hopefully we can all made informed posts this week. I know that I personally, like I said, have quite a bit to say. So, let's not wait any longer.

Like I usually do, I'll quickly define our topic in case anyone doesn't know. An Advanced Reader Copy or ARC is essentially an unfinished proof of a book that's set to be released in the future. An ARC can be physical or come in e-book form. As far as I know, physical ARCs are always paperback and will usually say the release date on the spine or cover along with something like "do not sell." The point of ARCs is to let "professional reviewers" like book bloggers and BookTubers read a book before it's publisher's release date so that they can create buzz, form opinions and offer their criticisms. Before I joined the book blogging world, I have never heard of this. It's weird to think of a time when I didn't know what an ARC was, but it's nothing to be ashamed of considering most people don't. That's why a lot of unethical people start blogs or YouTube channels looking for "free books." They don't understand the concept of ARCs, nor the idea that they aren't just entitled to receive them because they have a blog or a channel.

Usually, publishers will only send ARCs if you have enough of a following and have been consistently producing content that's receiving hits for about six months at least. They also want to see that you'll actually review the book if you end up being sent it. If you have a nice arsenal of quality, past reviews and pump them out on a consistent basis, you're who they're looking for. But, if you're newer to the community there are ways to receive ARCs that make things a little bit less picky. The main way and the only way that I've ever gotten ARCs is through websites that do just that. The main two-- the only two-- that I can think of are NetGalley and Edelweiss.

NetGalley is my preference because it's just so damn user-friendly! It's basically a website where you create an account, link your site(s) and put all your info. Then you can request ARCs through their catalog of books and, if approved, download them onto your device. I think I've probably been approved just as many times as I've been denied. I haven't gotten too many ARCs in my time in the community, but I've gotten enough to be well informed. NetGalley has an approval rating system where publishers can see how many of your approved ARCs, or galleys, you've actually reviewed. The higher your approval rating, the more likely it is that you'll be approved for future requests. Edelweiss is very similar. To me, it feels a little more professional (for lack of a better word.) It's essentially the same as NetGalley aside from the fact that, in my experience, it's harder to get approved and you don't get to keep the galleys forever. Whichever fits you best is what I would recommend if you're just starting out.

Now, for the more personal questions that I put in today's prompt, I'm going to quickly answer those for you right here. My blog has been going since early February of this year and my BookTube channel has been going since the first of June. In the time since I started this blog, I've received nine ARCs. Admittedly, I did not get around to reading all of them and I feel horrible about the ones I haven't gotten a chance to review. All the ARCs I've ever gotten have been eARCs. I would love a physical one as I prefer physical books to eBooks, but I haven't hit that milestone yet. The time will come eventually when my blog and channel are popular enough that I can garner physical ARCs, but for now I'm totally content with the way things have gone. I think when anyone first finds out about websites like NetGalley they go a little insane with requests only to realize they don't have enough time to read and review all of the books they get approved for. Since starting, I've basically just cut back on requests SUPER much and made sure to pay attention to the release dates for every book I request. As long as you don't over-book (wink wink! see what I did there?!) yourself, the world of ARCs is a marvelous and exciting place. Good luck, young padawan.

I apologize that this kind of went from a Thursday Thoughts post to "ARCs for Beginners," but I hope you took something from this nonetheless. I want to quickly direct you over to two videos that were recently posted by Bekah AwesomeBookNut on her YouTube Channel. They're HERE and HERE. Those videos are both essentially beginner's guides to Advanced Reader Copies. If you'd like more information and a more seasoned reviewer's opinions, those are the videos for you! I hope you all had fun this week for Thursday Thoughts. I know I did! Don't forget to comment and link up to share your own opinions. Also, join us next week when our topic will be "The Power of Social Media!" See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Gender Bias & Sexism

Hey, guys! Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! This is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my channel. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. We would love to hear what you have to say! This week's topic is one that was inspired by a YouTube video I watched recently. You may or may not know that I've become a HUGE comic fan over the last few months or so. I've found tons of awesome channels that have content dealing with things like that. One I particularly love is called The Wulff Den. These two brothers post three videos a week about comics, video games and general, relevant discussion topics. Recently, they did an entire week dedicated to sexism in nerd culture and how it was something that should be addressed. Their videos that week totally hit home for me and I thought this would make a fantastic Thursday Thoughts topic since it's selfishly something I feel like I have a thing or two to say about. If you want to take time to check out Will and Bob's videos from that week you can find them HERE, HERE and HERE. And, if you subscribe to them you should totally comment and tell them you were sent by Ashley from OkLetsRead. Just saying.

I want to start out on the topic of girls reading comics (or guys reading traditionally female genres of books) and then later on we'll talk about sexism actually in the pages of comics (which isn't quite as apparent in non-comic literature, however I still think it's there.) As a girl, I know what it's like to walk into a comic shop and have a patron look at me with an expression that reads like "What is that 17-21 year old female doing in a comic book store? Is she lost?" No, sir. No, I am not lost. I'm here to buy comic books just like you are. However, I can understand where those guys are coming from. I almost never feel that vibe from the people who work in the store. It's usually other customers. That got me thinking; Why is that? I think it's because the people who are in the comic book store all day have had the realization that times are changing. A Facebook poll of self-identified comic book fans back in February stated that 46.67% of those people are female. THAT'S AMAZING. And, I'm sure it doesn't take a genius to realize that that's the highest that statistic has ever been. To be fair, I don't think that that stat is the most accurate ever, but I can say without a doubt that somewhere between 25% and 50% of the comic book readership are women. Thirty years ago, that statistic would be absolutely shocking.

The main point I want to get across when it comes to comics is that girls can read and enjoy comic books too and it's totally okay! I should be able to walk into a comic store and feel normal and accepted. Fortunately my local comic shop is phenomenal (the bad experiences were in other shops) and is full of happy people who are willing to be helpful and friendly regardless of gender. I don't want to get too into the topic of cons. If you'd like to hear the opinions I agree whole-heartedly with on the topic of sexism in nerd culture in general, click the third and final link above. They do a great job explaining why girls can be nerds too, girls can dress as skimpy or not-skimpy as they want to in cosplay and shouldn't get harassed regardless and anything else you can think of on the matter. Basically, go watch that video. You won't regret it. It's great.

Now, within comics things are a little different. Because comic books have been for a long time a strictly-male readership, it makes some sense that they would be targeted towards men. Comics are full of mostly male characters and (although a lot less than video games) lots of scantily clad ladies. Women in comics are often portrayed solely as secondary characters or love interests. And, often times those characters end up being treated badly or killed off. I would be lying if I didn't make a point to say that comics have really stepped up their game over the past years. There are lots of female heroes and main characters now who are portraying women in a great light and making the changes necessary for growth. But, to say that things have changed completely would also be a lie. More or less, I think thing are looking up, but it's all a matter of how much time it will actually take for things to change.

In my post, I talked exclusively about comics because it's just what I've been into lately. Also because it's something I relate to a bit more as a female comic fan. But, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in the other side of things! I would love to hear what you all have to say about gender bias and sexism in books in general. Did you make a post that dealt more with text-only books and focused more on sexism against men? I would LOVE to hear your thoughts! Make sure to link up below or comment with your opinions. Also, don't forget to come back next week when we discuss Advanced Reader Copies or ARCs! See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || My Favorite Bookstore

Welcome to another Thursday Thoughts, friends! If you're new to my blog and don't know, this is an original, interactive meme I host each Thursday. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. Those of us who participate in Thursday Thoughts every week would love more people to discuss the topics with! That being said, this week's topic is "My Favorite Bookstore!" I've been running low on topics for few weeks now and constantly ask for more ideas from you lovely people. Today, I'm reaching out to you and asking once again because your idea could totally end up here in a few weeks. This is one of those ideas that was contributed by one of you. So, thank you so much to breathesbooks.com for this topic idea! I really, truly appreciate it.

Talking about bookstores is a throwback to some of our previous Thursday Thoughts. The very first week we did this, the topic was Library vs. Bookstore. If you'd like to hear even more of my ramblings on this sort of topic, you can totally go there and read that post. But, today's topic is a little different in that it's simply talking about bookstores. Around where I live I have three main bookstores that come to mind. There's a Barnes & Noble, a Books-A-Million and a Half Price Books. There totally used to be more. There was this awesome Borders Outlet, a regular Borders and a Waldenbooks. And, if you live in America you know about the travesty that was Borders going out of business. And, Waldenbooks was apparently owned by Borders... So, that explains that.

The three main bookstores in my area are all within fifteen minutes driving distance from my house. I know I'm really, super lucky in that aspect. I also quickly want to point out that one part of the bookstore thing that I'm not so lucky about. Independent bookstores. There are absolutely no independent bookstores around here. At least not that I know of. And, that kind of sucks. But, as for my main three book stores (not even talking about my local comic shop which is actually AMAZING), I think for the purposes of this post.. I'm meant to choose my favorite. That is an incredibly difficult task.. I love all three of these stores for their own unique reasons. Half Price Books-- as the name suggests-- has fantastic deals. I've been shopping there a lot lately and have had a ton of great finds. Books-A-Million, I'm particularly fond of because they A. are usually the least busy out of the three and B. have a lot of great bookish swag and things that aren't actually books. They might also have the largest YA book selection of the three stores. But, when you factor in all of the things that make up a "favorite bookstore," for me, Barnes & Noble really takes the cake.

My Barnes & Noble Location!

My Barnes & Noble is the closest bookstore to my house. It literally takes 5 minutes to drive there from my home. Not only that, but it's a pretty decently sized bookstore. It's also probably the store I frequent the most.. frequently. I'd say I go to Barnes & Noble roughly once every week and a half at the most. I definitely go to a bookstore in general once or twice every two weeks. My Barnes & Noble is.. the typical Barnes & Noble store. It's a decent size with a calming, quiet atmosphere that somehow manages to contain that hipster-y vibe.  Since becoming a Book Blogger and BookTuber.. I've discovered something slightly disturbing. No longer do I have the will to leave a bookstore empty-handed. And, that's where all my money has gone for the last six months. Tons and tons and tons of newly purchased books. I have a legitimate problem.. I'm sure many of you can relate, though.

What bookstores do you have in your area? Do you go there as often as I do? More? Let me know by making your own Thursday Thoughts post or commenting below. I would LOVE to hear what you have to say. Also, don't forget that I'm in serious need of future topic ideas. Anything and everything will help. Join us next Thursday for our discussion on a much heavier topic; Gender Bias and Sexism in books and reading culture. See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Read-A-Thons

Hey, guys! I'm so happy to be busting this post out since I've been a little lacking in the blogging department this week (and lately in general..). If you don't already know, Thursday Thoughts is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog! Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join in the conversation with a new topic each and every Thursday. This week's topic? Read-A-Thons! With so many read-a-thons happening in the Summer, I felt this topic would be perfect! And, it couldn't have come at a better time. I can think of three read-a-thons that I've encountered recently, so I'm sure you can too. And, even if you haven't participated in a read-a-thon, you can still join in the conversation and share your opinions!

Let's start off by defining a read-a-thon for anyone who might not know what they are. A read-a-thon is a essentially just an event among a group of people where you read a whole bunch over the course of a weekend, week or whatever time-frame the host(s) have decided on. Read-A-Thons can be themed, have challenges or just a main goal of reading more than you normally would. They aren't to be confused with read-a-longs in which a group of people read a specific book or series together. Read-A-Thons, to my knowledge, are mostly common in the book blogging community, BookTube and on GoodReads.

Recently, I participated in the BookTube-A-Thon! It's an annual read-a-thon (having just completed it's second year) hosted by Ariel Bissett on YouTube. As the name suggests, it's mostly for people who have BookTube channels (like myself.. hint hint, click HERE) or people who watch BookTube videos. This read-a-thon is SO amazingly organized. This year Ariel created challenges by which to create your TBR (to-be-read list), video challenges for your daily update videos and even a 10% discount code on a huge selection of books from The Book Depository. Not all read-a-thons are this advanced and fantastic, but if you have a chance to participate in a BookTube-A-Thon in the future, I would HIGHLY suggest it. I was shockingly successful. I read a total of 10 books (3 more than my goal of 7) and I managed to make an update video on 6 of the 7 days. Overall, I had an amazing time and can't wait to do it again. Last year, the creators of the BookTube-A-Thon also did a Christmas BookTube-A-Thon. So, if you wanted to participate but didn't have a chance too, keep an eye out around Christmastime and see if they bring that around again. I'm so excited for that!

The Under-Hyped Read-A-Thon recently ended as well (I think? That or it's about to end). For that read-a-thon, the goal was to read only books with 5,000 or less ratings on GoodReads! That is such a cool idea, but being that it started the day after the BookTube-A-Thon.. I wasn't exactly up to jump into another event. However, there is a read-a-thon that I'm planning on doing very, very soon! The #AYearAThon read-a-thon is a group on GoodReads where there's a read-a-thon ONCE A MONTH! Now, obviously you don't need to participate every month. In fact, this will be the first AYearAThon I've ever done. They have a new theme each month for participants to use when creating their TBR. This month's theme just really called to me, so I decided to plan on joining in! It's middle grade reads! If you kept tabs on my BookTube-A-Thon updates, you'd know that I read a TON of middle grade for that event. I can read one or two A Series of Unfortunate Event books in a day if I just sit down and go for it. Since I'm trying to get through that series, I felt like this would be perfect for me! If you want to join in for the #AYearAThon, DO IT! There's still time for you to plan out your TBR and join in for the middle grade read-a-thon going on from August 4-10.

Speaking of planning out your TBR, that would be my number one tip for having a successful read-a-thon. To be fair, I've only participated in three read-a-thons before.. But, I've definitely found that I'm more successful when I know what I'm planning on reading and I know I can meet my goals by doing x, y and z. I've always been a planner, so I just know that that's the main thing that helps me get through a week of aggressive reading. Something else that seemed to help me out was talking to other people who were participating. Twitter hashtags are AMAZING for encouraging yourself and others to just keep reading! If the event you're participating in is hosting Twitter Sprints, utilize that! The BookTube-A-Thon had two amazing Twitter Sprints per day and those helped me out majorly. Another tip that I haven't actually used before would be to leave little notes or funny things in your book to give you some encouragement as you read. Honestly, my best advice would be to do what you know will work for you, take breaks whenever you feel it's needed (don't burn yourself out) and read things that you want (if you aren't in the mood for anything on your TBR, don't be afraid to pick up something else!) If you do those things I can guarantee you'll have a great read-a-thon! Good luck and happy reading!

I hope you enjoyed this week's Thursday Thoughts! If you have any opinions on the things I've said, please comment them down below! Or, take things a step further and make your own post to link up below. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to come back next week as we discuss our favorite bookstores! See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Bookish Shame

Hey there! Welcome to another edition of Thursday Thoughts! This is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. Sidenote: I've done this once before, but I quickly want to ask for your help again. I'm starting to run low on Thursday Thoughts topics again, so if you have any ideas PLEASE don't hesitate to send them to me. You can email me, tweet me @okletsread, or whatever other form of communication works best for you. Thanks so much! If it weren't for your guys and your amazing contributions, Thursday Thoughts wouldn't be as awesome as it is. Thank you so so much! Now back to your regularly scheduled Thursday Thoughts post. This week's topic is "Bookish Shame" which is just my really general title for any sort of shaming or embarrassment that's brought about in the bookish world. This has the potential to become a serious conversation, so keep that in mind.

Recently there was "drama" brought about by some articles that were relating to the whole idea of adults reading YA as being a bad or "embarrassing" thing. The main article that seemed to ruffle feathers was "Against YA: Adults should be embarrassed to read children's books." which was posted on Slate.com by Ruth Graham. I want to point out that almost everything I say in this post will be a little biased since I strongly disagree with almost everything Graham said in this article. She more of less states that she feels that reading YA once you're grown out of that age group is deterring actual young adults from aiming to achieve the "satisfaction" that comes with reading adult books, is a waste of time and brain power and that if you're an adult who reads YA you should be embarrassed. I disagree with ALL of these things. Reading is reading. Graham makes a statement in her article that reads "I know, I know: Live and let read. Far be it from me to disrupt the “everyone should just read/watch/listen to whatever they like” ethos of our era." The way she even had the guts to point that out and then brush it off as if it were irrelevant really irked me. If people are reading, let them be happy! Reading is a good thing regardless of if you "belong" in that reading level genre or not.

Now that I've rambled on enough about that, I'm going to move on to the next two sections of today's prompt. What reading level genres do I read personally? Well, as you can see above, I'm VERY open and totally okay with reading all sorts of different levels. In fact, I enjoy seeing all the different perspectives on life! I do read a lot of YA, that's definitely the obvious one. I made a little pie chart to really show you how my reading is split up. I graphed my reads of 2014 this into five different sections; middle grade, young adult, new adult, adult and graphic novels. Graphic novels would have been mixed in, but I'm really not sure what group they fall into. Plus, I read some graphic novels that are meant for, for example, middle grade, so I included those in the graphic novel section. As you can see, I read a lot of YA and GNs. Why? BECAUSE IT'S WHAT I ENJOY. Put together, Graphic Novels and YA Novels account for 82.5% of the books I've read in 2014 and I can bet that little miss Ruth Graham would have a huge problem with that. But, even as a 19-year-old female, I'm completely okay with what I read. I read what I like and there's not much more than that to it. I couldn't care less what people think about my reading tastes because they're MY reading tastes for a reason.

The final chunk of this week's topic touches on the prejudice that's been cropping up against New Adult fiction. I've heard people describe this genre as "YA with sex" or "romance novels for a younger crowd." Those things are simply not true. It's SUCH A shame that the minority of New Adult novels that do feature overly frequent, unbelievable sex scenes have given a bad rap to the entire New Adult genre. To me, New Adult is just that, books geared towards new adults for new adults. In case you were curious, new adult is generally the age of "college kids" which is somewhere around 18-25 (in my opinion.) Now, that's not to say that New Adult doesn't contain sex. OBVIOUSLY it's new adult so it's going to have content that actual new adults partake in and can relate to. If you feel like new adult novels are often mostly romance driven, that's because they are. Most new adults are experimenting in college and testing out that whole new section of their lives. That's just how it is. I wish that there weren't such a bad connotation with the genre because it really does have a lot to offer. I think there are plenty of people who could enjoy New Adult if they would just give it a shot! Speaking of new adults and shots, here's the "Thursday Thoughts || Bookish Shame" drinking game; drink every time I type "new adult." Hahaha. Clearly I'm tired and rambling so I think I'm going to try and wrap things up.

Here are my final thoughts; No one genre is made to fit only that age group or it's "target audience." If that were the case, girls never would have started reading comics as they were originally only geared towards young males. New Adult isn't just scandalous nonsense. And my biggest point of all is to READ WHATEVER YOU WANT because I can guarantee you will be much happier that way. I hope you guys enjoyed this week's Thursday Thoughts. Don't hesitate to give me your opinions in the comments! I would love to hear what you have to say. Also, please don't forget to let me know if you have any ideas for future Thursday Thoughts topics of conversation. Join us next week for a discussion on "Read-A-Thons!" Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday Thoughts || Spoilers

Hi, hi, hi, hi! Welcome to another Thursday Thoughts! This is a weekly, interactive, original meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! If you don't keep up with BookTube news, this week is the BookTube-A-Thon! I'm participating in this event and am, therefore, going to be a little bit distant from the blog for the next few days. The event goes from the 14-20 and I'm actually writing this post on the 13th. So, I'm not too sure how I'm actually doing with the read-a-thon and keeping up with the blog, but I hope I'm doing well! This week's theme is "Spoilers!" I think this is probably one of my favorite Thursday Thoughts topics thus far. Spoilers are something that a lot of people have a lot of different opinion on in the bookish community. Including myself. So, I think it's about time that I throw my hat into the ring on this topic.

Let me start of by saying I hate spoilers. Plain and simple. I can't deal with spoilers. I don't understand why spoilers even have to be a conversation among bookish people. It's so simple to quickly say or type "The things I'm about to say could be considered spoilers about [insert book name here], so proceed at your own risk." It's common courtesy to do that sort of thing. I just can't wrap my head around the idea that someone would ever think it was okay to mention spoilers of something in general. Personally, hearing or knowing anything that's particularly spoiler-y about a book makes me feel like the experience of reading that book is sort of.. tainted?  Most of the time, I don't even read very much from the dust jacket of a book. I just think that the entire experience of reading a new book is much more rich when you're going in blind.

My worst spoiler experience was honestly from a BookTube video. I don't want to point any fingers, but these people know who they are because I think they got a lot of crap for it. Basically, two BookTubers were doing a collab video and they more or less spoiled a GIANT spoiler from Allegiant. Which was just lovely since I was half way through Insurgent at the time. Fortunately, I've kind of fallen off the Divergent bandwagon anyway. I can't seem to get through the second one and the books just haven't been interesting me. But, I'm still bitter to this day about being spoiled by that one horrible, little sentence. You know that feeling you get right when you hear a spoiler? Where your heart kind of sinks? Yeah, me too.

I can see why some people say that it's okay to mention certain spoilers after x amount of time. To be fair, I think everyone knows the story of the first Harry Potter book. I think everyone knows what happens at the end of Titanic. Those sort of things that have become cultural knowledge are okay, in my opinion. However, I don't think that, for example, the last Harry Potter book is something you should talk about openly. Sure, a lot more people probably know what happens at the end of Harry Potter than at the end of the Divergent series, but that doesn't mean there still aren't people who don't know. I think it's simple to just throw out a quick disclaimer and I don't see why we wouldn't do that as a courtesy to our fellow book worms. Those are my opinions on the matter and I don't think they'll be easily swayed. However, I would LOVE to hear what everyone else thinks! If you have an opinion on spoilers, tell me down below! And, if you made a post, don't forget to add yourself to the lovely link up. Don't miss next week's Thursday Thoughts where we discuss "Bookish Shame." See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Book Tastes

Hello, hello! Welcome to yet another Thursday Thoughts! This is an original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! This week's topic of conversation is sure to be super fun for all of us because who doesn't like to talk all about themselves? I know I do. Haha. This week's theme is "Book Tastes." We'll be discussing our own unique tastes when it comes to genres and how our tastes have changed over time! Are you excited? I'm super excited. Woo!

Book tastes, much like food tastes, change over time. It's an inevitable change that occurs as we grow and as our feelings and views change as well. That being said, there are some things that simply never change. Those, at least in my opinion, are the true favorite things. For example, I've ALWAYS loved books with darker themes. When I was younger I loved The Series of Unfortunate Events. Now that I'm older, I still like darker books. AND, I'm actually re-reading The Bad Beginning for the BookTube-A-Thon next week! (Click HERE for more information on the BookTube-A-Thon) I also want to quickly point out that I-- like I've said MANY times before-- haven't always been the biggest reader. When I was younger I did love reading and I definitely had my go-to books. However, that's not to say that I've always read a lot, per say.

The first question on the prompt for this week is about whether or not you have a genre that is probably know as "your genre." My answer for this? Definitely. At least in my own imagination. I don't know if other people agree with this. I definitely have two specific genres that I am ALWAYS attracted to. The first one is a bit hard to classify, so I'm just going to call it "Paranormal." I don't know if that's really what it is, but it's something along those lines. Like I mentioned in the above paragraph, I have always loved books with darker themes. Some of my very, very favorite books in this genre that I think everyone probably knows I love are Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs), Hexed (Michelle Krys) and The Archived (Victoria Schwab). The other "genre" that I really adore isn't necessarily a genre. Although... I'm going to consider it one for the purposes of this post. And, that is fairy tale re-tellings! GAH! I think we all know by now that I can't turn down a fairy tale re-telling. Some of my favorite books in that genre would be The Lunar Chronicles (Marissa Meyer) and the Fables series (Bill Willingham).

As far as my book tastes changing goes, I'm not quite sure where to start. I don't know if they've changed all that much, but I'm sure they have. The main thing I can think of is that I definitely liked contemporary type books more when I was younger. In middle school, I would probably gravitate more towards contemporary and dystopian. Actually, now that I think about it, I've been really not into dystopian books as much as of recently. So, those are basically the only genres I can think of that I once liked and don't as much anymore. As for why? I'm not quite sure, to be honest. What about you guys?! What's your go-to genre? Let me know in the comments. I would love to hear about your book tastes and how they've changed over time. And, don't forget to join us next week when we discuss "Spoilers!" A very controversial topic! Don't miss it. Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday Thoughts || Reading Conditions

Hey, guys! Welcome to Thursday Thoughts, once again. This is a weekly, interactive, original meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation. This week, for the first time ever, I almost missed Thursday Thoughts! Usually I post at 12am on the dot. I like to get my post up as soon as possible for anyone who may have made their own Thursday Thoughts post. But, today.. it's 2am and I'm scrambling to write this for you because I forgot. I'm actually exhausted and a little bit out of it, but to me this is more important than sleep right now. I should probably get my priorities in order... Anyways! This week's topic of conversation is brought to you by a Thursday Thoughts family member and that would be "Reading Conditions."

I would say that about 95% of my time reading is spent in my bed. My bed is the comfiest, most relaxing place in my house for me personally. I'm not the kind of person who can fall asleep while reading. If I have a book in my hands, I'm too concerned with losing my place to fall asleep. Plus, if I were really that tired, I wouldn't be able to read in the first place. Even back in school, I never understood how kids could fall asleep in class. My body literally just wouldn't allow me to fall asleep; it was too public and there was too much at risk that would be out of my control in that situation. Reading and sleeping is kind of the same way. For all of those reasons, reading in my bed is ideal.

Going right along with that, I typically read the most right before bed or in the earlier part of the day. My sleep schedule is a bit wonky (as you can tell by the fact that I'm writing this at 2am,) so that kind of contributes to my weird reading times. I read the most before I go to sleep (which is usually around 3) and after I've been up for a few hours (around 12-2pm.) Since I read during some of the quietest times of the day, I enjoy reading in silence. I can see how reading in total silence might make things distracting (a lot of times in high school, I couldn't study in silence,) but as far as reading goes music distracts me majorly. I've always been someone who enjoys music and singing. Since that's such a big part of my life, it's hard for me to listen to a song without singing along or at least really listening to the words. For those reasons, reading while listening to music just doesn't seem to work out for me.

Here's the most ideal reading situation in a day in the life of Ashley; It's a nice, gloomy day. The weather is rainy and there's a brisk chill in the air. The house is empty and I'm cuddled up in my bed with a good book and a water bottle. The blankets are wrapped around me, but I have room to balance my book wherever I may need. Everything is quiet aside from the light sound of rain rapping against my house. That's my ideal reading conditions.

Are you anything like me? Do you love rain when you're reading? Are you able to listen to music while reading? If so, how?! I can't for the life of me do that. Are you the kind of person who falls asleep while reading? What time of day do you read? Let me know any of your Thursday Thoughts down in the comments! I would LOVE to hear them. I'm sorry that this week's post was so rushed and probably a bit messy. I promise things will be better next week. Speaking of next week, join us back here next Thursday when we discuss "Book Tastes!" See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Rating Systems

 It's time! Here's another Thursday Thoughts for all you little cuties! I'm currently in NYC and having the best time ever. In fact, I've taken tons of little clips (and plan on continuing to take more of those) so that I can make a FANTASTIC video-recap of my trip and all the exciting things I've done here in the city. So, look forward to that! But, being that I'm on vacation, I'm SUPER busy. So, please forgive me if this is a shorter post. Thursday Thoughts is a weekly, interactive, original meme here on my blog. Everyone with an opinion is invited to make their own post, link up and join the conversation! This week's topic of conversation is "Rating Systems." This particular topic was give to me by Carola. She's someone who regularly comments on my blog posts. I really appreciate that and I want to quickly thank you here. So, thanks for the idea!

Now, let's just get right into things! Rating systems are something that people have a lot of opinions and "disagreements" about. I personally do use the star rating system. When reviewing books or posting reviews on my Goodreads account which can be found in my sidebar I always give a rating out of 5 stars. I personally think that's not a horrible system. However, I can definitely understand why people wouldn't like it. The star rating system clearly has flaws. That's undeniable. I have a link on my blog to explain the way I define each rating out of 5 stars. I think, since there is so much confusion behind the whole rating thing, that this is something any and all bloggers who use the rating system should have on their blog. It's infinitely helpful to have that little bit of reference and insight when trying to understand the rating that someone decided to give a book.

Personally, I don't use any other rating systems. I think that the star rating system is the most universal of the rating systems. It's something that most people can kind of agree upon and I think that's really important. However, I don't think that ratings out of 10, for example, would be a problem. There's a reason that so many reviewers give ratings that include half stars. If the universal rating system were points out of 10, it would solve that problem. Even though, I don't really think that there's a major problem with the star rating system considering people do use half-stars.

My solutions in general would be to just communicate and to encourage communication among reviewers on this topic. If the meanings behind certain ratings were entirely universal there would be absolutely no problems with the star rating system. I may just be incredibly full of myself, but I think that the way I define my ratings (click HERE to see those definitions) is the way that everyone defines them. However, obviously I'm not oblivious enough to think that's the case. Nor, do I really think that's possible.

As long as a reviewer can elaborate in a review or even just a few sentences to explain a bit more in depth what they thought of a book, I think the star rating system does work well. Clearly, Goodreads could make some improvements in the way of making things more universal, but until then we should all just try to take everyone's opinions with a grain of salt. For example, someone might like a book just as much as you did and give it a different rating. Everyone's different and that's something that's honestly unavoidable.

Thanks for stopping by for this week's Thursday Thoughts! I would love to hear what you have to say! If you make a post of your own Thursday Thoughts, link it below!! If not, I would love it if you could comment and let me know your thoughts on rating systems. I currently have to run because we're about to go to Planet Hollywood for dinner followed by Newsies on Broadway! AHH! Talk to you guys next week when we discuss Reading Conditions! See ya then!

Thursday Thoughts || Rereads

Hello, there! Welcome to yet another week of Thursday Thoughts! This is a original, interactive, weekly meme here on my blog. Anyone with an opinion is invited to make a post, link up and join the conversation! We would just love to have you with us. This week's Topic of conversation is "Rereads." I'm excited to talk about this topic! However, I do feel like (as I've felt a lot lately) this post may be a bit uninformed. I've not reread that many books. In fact, as far as I can remember, I've only reread one or two books in my lifetime! (Aside from tiny children's books for the nostalgia.)

Currently, I'm in a super silly (and very stressful) situation, so I'm going to quickly explain it to you because why not. I wrote that first paragraph earlier and then a few hours later my power went out. Storms, gotta love 'em. Anyways, I'm so dependent on the internet that I honestly cried. But once I got over it, my family decided to come to McDonald's, so I'm currently using their wifi and writing this on my iPad. The lengths I go to for this blog. Hopefully, the power will be back on at my house by midnight, but I'd rather by safe than sorry. So, that's that. Thought I'd let you know.

Now back to your regularly scheduled Thursday Thoughts. Most recently I've reread Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Or, I'm rereading it, rather. To be quite honest, I'm having trouble getting through it. That book was one of my all time favorites when I was in middle school. For that reason, I figured it would be amazing to reread it (considering I couldn't remember all that much about the plot.) However, that wasn't exactly the case. I've started and finished a few other books in the time frame that I've been "reading" Stargirl and had no interest in reading that particular book first and foremost.

Like I said, I loved Stargirl when I read it the first time around. I don't think I would ever consider rereading a book if I didn't like it the first time I read it. That sounds counterproductive to me and it kind of feels like a waste of time. However, I could totally see someone rereading a book and liking it the second time they read it since our tastes change and grow as we do. When rereading a book I mostly look, obviously, for things I missed the first time around. I also feel like there's a possibility for disliking a book you used to like. I wouldn't say that Stargirl is an example of this for me, but it could have been that far. But, I think the integrity of the story and what I really liked about it is still there and that's what made me not necessarily hate it this time around.

And, that's that! Sorry if this is a crappy Thursday Thoughts. I'm being rushed by my family while they want to leave the McDonald's parking lot. So, with this I bid you adieu. I hope you enjoyed this post nonetheless and I can't wait to hear all of your lovely opinions on rereads. Join us next week when we discuss rating systems! See you then.