Reasons Why I Have Been Seriously Slacking

If you haven’t noticed, I have been really slacking on my blog posts. For the past…year. Just a couple days ago, I was *admiring* my blog as I usually do (haha) and saw that back in 2015, I was posting ~15 to 20 times a month. HOW did I do it? How did this amount change so frequently? Well, let’s all get into a time machine and pinpoint what exactly went wrong this past year.

Just, the US in general, and who’s in charge

I’m going to be honest, this is the number 1 reason why I haven’t been as active as I wanted to be. Being on Twitter wasn’t very good for me as I would just get bombarded with bad news after bad news. And obviously yes, that still happens today, but I’ve gotten better about coping with it.

Number of ARCs

This is also another big one! I am … no longer a fan of ARCs anymore. I don’t care much about them. In 2015 and most of 2016, I was drowning in piles and piles of ARCs. By the end, I was like “enough is enough, I need to start culling”. And so I became very picky. I thought through my requests, didn’t read books that were unsolicited, and now look at me! Four ARCs for the rest of 2017!

The mediocrity of some of these new releases

Now you might be thinking, “Val, aren’t you missing a bunch of great new releases? Shouldn’t they be on your radar?” Well. Nah. I mean they are on my radar thanks to Book Twitter, but too many times have I expected a great story from a book I requested, only to be let down. Which is why I have reduced the number of ARCs I request in the first place. And also why I now wait until I read reviews on the book before buying or borrowing it. Or even adding it to my TBR.

But wait, how can I read reviews when there are…

Fewer book bloggers in the community in general

I don’t know. I recently had to clean out a list of my faves because they were no longer active. And it was sad. I have made the effort to go out and check out new blogs, but I have also become really picky with which blogs I follow. I honestly wish I had more time to comment on every weekly update or every review, but I physically just can’t.

Rise in Bookstagram

This is where everyone migrated to. And I can’t even talk because I’m on Instagram too. I love taking and editing photos though, so it’s not like I am forcing myself. Or aiming to be at the top. In my eyes, I’ve already made it with my blog.

I'm also very happy with my Instagram now though!

A post shared by Valerie (@innocentreads) on Sep 26, 2017 at 9:25pm PDT

Writing reviews

This is a chore. We can all agree. But at the same time, it is why I started blogging in the first place? The hypocrisy.

To be fair, I have been doing a MUCH better job writing reviews. THE SECRET: I actually talk to my phone through Google Voice. It lets me get all my thoughts out, without any typing. Of course, the end result is something that needs heavy editing.

Where do I even begin with among the red stars. So first of all it was very much reminded me of code name Verity, and that there's a heavy focus on planes and just flying and there's just a lot of technical jargon but not as much as in code name Verity which in the beginning or just packed full of jargon. But again the characters were amazing so basically what's happening is that these two girls that I have don't remember the name of but these two girls are amazing flyers and they just are from Russia and so they want to join they want to join like the war effort and by flying like planes and war planes and one of them wanted to be a fighter pilot and then the other is a navigator and so like basically a whole bunch a girls and they're all bunking together the basically all living together and training to fly.

BUT AFTER EDITS IT IS GREAT.

I got the idea of using Google Voice from my own laziness. I kept thinking of how awesome it would be if my thoughts would just automatically transfer to my blog. This isn’t exactly that, but close enough. And doesn’t involve using my hands or a laptop, so that’s a plus.

Amount of work in grad school

Yesterday I had a quarter life crisis because I have just been so busy at graduate school. BUT I’M FINE. EVERYTHING IS OKAY. But yes, no time for blogging unfortunately. I mean I could probably make time, but then where’s the time to read? That’s the problem I ran into in 2015.

Adult books

I’ve been seeking out more adult books now, because YA has completely burnt me out. Or at least a bit. And so I’ve been visiting the library to take out more books, because I have such a huge backlist. And that means no reviews to write!

Video games

This is the most obvious thing on the list, but I have been playing video games almost every day, and of course it takes up time. BUT I LOVE VIDEO GAMES. Anyways, I play them more than I did during my undergraduate years. Mainly because I now have my own (two!) personal TVs.

No motivation

I have had no motivation to do anything blogging related. Last year, I was creating graphics to go with my posts. Making sure everything matched and looked good on the blog. Now? Not so much.

Also this is the first discussion-ish post I have had in a while? So this is actually a big step for me.

But speaking of big steps, I do want to get back into blogging. Like fully get back into it, and post three times a week like I have done in the past. It’ll be hard, and there might be times where I slip up. But I think that with my enjoyment of reviewing coming back, and with all the books I’ve been reading, I can handle it.

So I guess get ready to see more regular posts from me! Woo!

A Throne of Glass Discussion (Part 1)

Hey everyone! Do I have a treat for you! Do you remember the time where I didn't know when or where I would read Throne of Glass? Well, I did! And so did both of my friends Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight and Holly @ The Fox's Hideaway. We have officially read the book! Woo! *throws confetti* So, what now? Well, instead of reviewing it individually, we decided to discuss it instead. This led to a rather lengthy discussion on what we thought, (what we forgot), and overall, what we liked and disliked about Throne of Glass! Since our discussion was *pretty* long, we decided to divide it in three parts! Links will be provided at the end to both parts 2 & 3! 

Without further due, here is part 1! Be prepared for some craziness!

Introduction
Val: I'm about to start this discussion again, for real. So I really liked Throne of Glass, I liked it a lot. I'm not sure who I was rooting for, Dorian or Chaol (I can’t believe his name is pronounced as “Kale”, hahahah)

Holly: Whoa. Whoa. Wait. His name is pronounced as “Kale”? THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. Also I am totes team Kale, after that Trial type of thing.

Val: I KNOW. I think I saw it on someone else's blog, and I was like “wut, I've been pronouncing it 'Ch-AWL' this entire time. What is life. But yeah, I am ALSO TEAM KALE. Shannon what team are you on?

Holly: I've been pronouncing it like Ch-awl too! IT MAKES MORE SENSE TO ME.

Val: Yeah I DON'T EVEN KNOW.

Shannon: I thought it was Kale from the start? But I also thought I was wrong, so who knows!

Celaena
Holly: Celaena is a BADASS. I mean, she could be extremely stubborn, obnoxiously vain, and cold. But I think those “flaws” just made me love her all the more. I liked that she was a sexually confident female too, because they are sorely lacking in YA books.

Val: TRUE. It is so lacking in YA that I myself don't even know what sexually confident means. And I loved how she became slightly more caring in the end.

Holly: Basically, it means that these females know they're hot, and they don’t apologize for that. They're confident with and around guys, and they like flirting. NO SLUT-SHAMING. In so many books I read, most girls are the typical Mary Sue. Shy, innocent, always blushing at everything. They don’t know they're pretty, and they find it ridiculous that a guy would call them beautiful. They're kind of made to be superior to “those other girls” and it’s such a harmful stereotype and leads to slut-shaming. And oh, I loved her growth. She was so closed-off and angry at the whole world, but slowly, so slowly she became warmer and more caring. She started to feel more for people, let herself open up again. She’s been through a lot, so I totally understood her need to shut down and keep people out.

Val: Oh I see! YAY NO SLUT SHAMING. Yeah, same here. I've only read a few that have had confident girls as well. It all sounds very humble and modest :P And like what a girl is SUPPOSED to be like. Seriously. I’m glad that the people around me at least think differently, well I guess on Tumblr, Book Blogging community, and hopefully my friends think that slut-shaming is bad too, at least.

Holly: Oh, I don't think I have friends outside of this that see slut-shaming as a problem, which is sad. I try and catch it in books, and I like reading ones that say “fuck you” to the gender norms.

Shannon: I liked her by the end, but in the beginning, holy hell she was VAIN. I was like, girl, you are about to die, and you are worried about your boobs and your hair. STOP IT.

Ready to continue? Part 2 Part 3

How Do You Pick Your ARCs

I seem to be in a writing mood lately, well kind of. But, there is something that's been bothering me for awhile, and it involves ARCs! Otherwise known as Advanced Reader/Review Copies, and more specifically the ones you request from NetGalley or Edelweiss.

So here's the thing. I've been on a ton of book blogs. I've seen the STS's and Book hauls. And all those e-ARC's on the list! I recently read a post about organizing ARC reviews and accidentally requesting too many of them (Rinn @ Rinn Reads). The blogger had more than 70 ARCs that needed to be read and reviewed (as seen on the spreadsheet). 

Okay. So I understand how one can procrastinate on reading and leave it all to the last minute (lol), so that's not my question. But just all those books! 

How do you decide which books from NetGalley or Edelweiss or anywhere is worth your time and effort to review? Is is based on how much you like the cover? Or do you just request anything that's been recently added? A specific genre? 

I'm very picky with requesting books, and I get more and more discouraged every time I don't enjoy the e-ARC. And with that being said, I only have one e-ARC that needs to be reviewed! Just one! Do you see my problem here??? I want more! I want to know all your secrets! Because I know there are good e-ARCs out there, I'm just not looking in the right places I guess.

Any good tips or tricks? How do you decide what ARCs to request? Let me know below!