Bookish

Happy October!

Happy October!!

I can’t believe that there are only 2 months left in the year!! That’s crazy and it’s officially holiday season!! I know a lot of people are getting ready for Halloween and all of their spooky reads, but I’m not going that route. First, I don’t really do spooky reads and thrillers, the second I really need to read some books that I already own.

So, that is what I will be focusing on this month. I don’t really do TBRs as you know, but I do have some books on my physical shelves and my e-reader shelves.

Some of those books include

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

Guilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Serpent and Dove  by Shelby Mahurin

Slay by Britney Morris

I know I have more books that I need to read that you can see on my Instagram page, but these are some of the ones that I really want to get to next.

I’m trying really hard to not buy any books this month and prepare for the holidays!! What are some of the books that you have planned for this month?! Are you going spooky, participating in ReadAThons, or just keeping is business as usual? Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

Bookish

July ReadAThon | FuckAThon!

I am trying to participate in another readathon this month. So far… I’m behind. What’s new with that though. This month I’m participating in the Fuck-A-Thon that is hosted by Noria at Noria Reads on Youtube. The Reading Challenge has prompts that basically are there to challenge the social norms. We have all month to read these books, so I need to get on that. There is also a group book as well! I have put my TBR down below and also attached Noria’s original video. I’m thinking about vlogging for this challenge, but considering I’m already behind that might be a lot haha. What do you think of this new reading challenge?! Let me know down in the comments or on my video! Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India

 

Noria’s Original Video | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lypysK_Rlw

FuckAThon Prompts:
Fuck Racism: Read a book that explores race relations
Fuck the Patriarchy: Read a book that challenges patriarchal norms and behaviour
Fuck Ageism: Read a book that centers a well-rounded older character
Fuck Heternormativity: Read a book that is queer af!
Fuck Realism: Read a fantasy book
Fuck Pollution: Read literature that talks about pollution or climate change
Fuck Abuse: Read a book that focuses on any form of abuse
Fuck Classism: Read a book that explores class stratification and the role it plays in a character’s life
Fuck Ableism: Read a book with a main character that has a disability.
Read the Group Book: Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
*The Liveshow is on July 27th at 8PM

 

Bookish

Do I Only Read When I’m Depressed?

I haven’t been reading a lot lately, which isn’t a bad thing, but it is different. If you follow me on Instagram (if you don’t you should just click here!) you would have seen a post about me talking about feeling more happy. I have noticed that with that light feeling that I’ve had, I haven’t wanted to sit in my bed all day with the windows closed and read my books. Now I haven’t given up reading at all, I just have not sequestered myself to the pillows. Who knows it might just be because I haven’t started a book in awhile that has excited me. As I looked into why I haven’t been crushing my reading goals lately, I really had to look into myself and my own moods and see what was going on.
The conclusion in my own non scientific experiment was that I was not feeling the depression that was weighing me down in so many things. Now I want to be out and moving around and taking more pictures of books than I want to read them. I still have the desire to read them, but I don’t have the desire to sit still, so I need to use some of those audible credits it sounds like. As I was finding this out about my myself I then started to look at the book community.
A lot of the book community contains people who have titled themselves as introverts, which is fine, and that’s why they enjoy reading so much, but also why they love the book community. It gives them a place to socialize without having to socialize. Basically socializing on their own terms. There has also been a lot of discussion and talks about mental health going on in the book community as of late, which I think is fantastic, but they’re more discussions of people saying that they have a mental health issue and bringing light to that. Other than a chemical imbalance that some people face with their mental health, I want to explore what other reasons why a lot of book people feel down. For me, it was a birth control that spun my mental health all out of wack. If I was titling myself I would call myself an extroverted introvert. I can make conversation with anyone at any time and it doesn’t bother me at all, but I also need that space to be away from people some time.
I also wanted to explore the thought of reading for escapism. I know that I have said that in videos and looking back at that, I’m not even sure if that’s what I really meant to say. I always meant reading for escapism in terms of escaping to some place new, and now I think the new word I was trying to come up with is exploring. I feel like I read to explore new places, but not necessarily to escape from the place I’m at. I love where I’m at in life even with all of the mixed feelings and emotions, but it took time to get there. Sometimes I fear for the book community and the fact that too many people are escaping from life and not dealing with life, but everyone has their journey to get to where they need to be.
So my questions starts to become, do I only read when I’m depressed and how do I read in the same volume when I’m happy?  Or do I need to change my expectations of myself and not put reading pressure on myself. These are some of the questions that I have and I don’t know any of the answers. I know that I need to take it a day at a time and still continue to read what I enjoy and have fun with it. Do you find your mood determines your reading? Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Bookish

Romance Was the Genre I Didn’t Know I Needed

I have always considered me to be a fantasy reader with a little bit of contemporary to balance it out, but then romance came in and it slapped me in the face and was like “where the hell have you been?” I had no answer for it.
I started getting into romance because I was trying to finish my reading goals for the Goodreads challenge. I read The Kiss Quotient and then I had to read more, then I read The Hating Game and I was hooked. I need to find more romance reads, so I hit up my favorite romance booktuber and her Goodreads page, so I could get some book recommendations. From there I started to dive into the erotic, the smutty, the light, and the sports romance. There are so many levels to romance! I was able to choose what I wanted for the mood that I was in and if I was in a kind of fantasy mood, but didn’t need all of the fantasy, there were paranormal romances as well.
I don’t have much to say about it, other than it was there when I needed it and that I need to stop looking down on the romance world like I was doing. It made me have a deeper respect for the romance readers and it also helped me know what I liked and what I wanted from a readers stand point. If you haven’t read romance, go ahead and give it a try. You never know, it might be your new favorite thing. If you don’t know where to start then head over to Stephanie’s goodreads page where she has all of the romance books she’s read broken down into different categories and find something that peaks your interest. I’ve read a few and could try and recommend some to you as well. Just ask down below! I hope you find something new and exciting, but until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Coffee Break

The Booktube Boyfriend Tag!

So, I made Eric be in a video with me….

I might have bribed him to do it…

I’m pretty sure he loves me … hahahah

No, I’m just kidding I know he loves because he was willing to do this fun and exciting video with me to see how much he knows about Booktube and what I do over here.

Of course a lot of the pictures you see of me on social media have been taken by him, as he so graciously becomes my photographer for however many photos that I need. Trust me no grumbling there – read lots of grumbling and India we don’t have time for this -and he takes as many pictures that I need.

Here’s the two of us together! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where you get to see more of our Swirly Relationship. The video is here and down below! If you have any questions for us leave them below! Until next time!

Keep Turning the Pages

India