12Feb / 2018

2017 wrap-up – our top books and reading goals

2017…what a confusing little devil you were! Either so up you’re up, or so down you’re down. Frankly, you were a bit silly and you can go in the bin now.

But the good news is, we’ve finally put together our yearly wrap-up and goals for the next 12 months!

Janelle says…

My top 5 books of the year

Fever Dream – Samanta Schweblin

Unsettling, memorable, unique. I can’t compare this book to anything else I’ve read before, and I couldn’t not give it 5 stars after the profound experience of reading it. If you like books that push the boundaries and leave you thinking, you could give this one a try, just not if you’re a more conservative type.

Shelter – Jung Yun

I loved this book for the fact that it was both an exploration in to cultural and generational divides, and a page-turner to boot. It was confronting but also human. A wonderful surprise of a book.

Burial Rites – Hannah Kent

One for the feels! This was all about the characters for me, Hannah Kent does characters so well and I just fell for them. She also does atmosphere well, and this would be a perfect cosy Autumn or Winter read.

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

I just want more of this book, I would happily re-read it again and again. This is a bit of a “Swiss army” recommendation for me, it has something for everyone and I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying it. I can’t WAIT for the movie!

One Dark Throne – Kendare Blake

This series has totally captured my imagination and my heart, I love it so much. The story is captivating and addictive, the world that Kendare Blake has created is intoxicating. Semi-dark fantasy with richly drawn characters (you’ll have a hard time choosing a favourite!). Would be great for Game of Thrones lovers. This is bound for the screen at some point, surely.

My reading goals

I failed my Goodreads reading challenge for the first time in 2017, falling short by 5 books. And that’s ok, because reading 43 books in a year is still great. I’ve really re-adjusted my Goodreads goal for this year to be more realistic, and I’m aiming for 24 books. That way, I can get to some of the chunkier books that are waiting to be read and not feel irritated by how long it’s taking me to get through them!

I was also kind of participating in the Shelf Love Challenge again this year. I say “kind of” because I didn’t really pay any attention to this at all after I set my goal, I didn’t blog about it, nothin’. I was aiming for between 21-30 of my books read this year to be from my own shelves, and ended up with a total of 15. Considering I currently have around 170 unread books at home (and that number’s about to grow – the Lifeline Bookfair is coming up you guys, I don’t care I’M GOING), that’s pretty crappy. I’m going to say that for 2018, I want at least 50% of the books I read to be from my own piles at home!

Mel says…

My top 5 books of the year

The Dry – Jane Harper

This was one of the first books I completed in 2017 and I called it early in my review with my pick for ‘Book of the Year’. I stand by my initial claim. This book was my favourite read of 2017 and I have recommended it to many people since, who all say they loved it also!

Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf

This was a cute, easy read that Janelle picked. I loved the warm and fuzzy feelings it gave me and can’t wait to watch the Netflix version.

Milk and Honey – Rupi Kaur

I’m not usually one to read poetry, but this book had so many amazing reviews that I couldn’t resist. It explored darkness, lightness and everything in between. Highly recommend!

The Black Book – James Patterson

My Dad highly recommended this gem to me, as he knows I love anything Crime Fiction. Right from page 1, it reeled me in and didn’t let go until the final page. This was my first James Patterson adventure and I was looking forward to my second, ‘The Zoo’ but that one fell into my DNF pile for 2017.

Force of Nature – Jane Harper

My second Jane Harper pick for Top 5 and I won’t apologise for it, it is well deserved! Can this woman do no wrong? She has me on the edge of my seat from the start of each novel and now I am equally as anxious for book number 3.

My reading goals

As I surpassed my initial Goodreads reading goal in 2016, by 7 books, I set myself high expectations in 2017 with a goal of 30 books. Unfortunately, I didn’t achieve my goal this year and fell short by 12 books coming in at only 18/30 books read. Sigh….

One to keep persisting and pushing myself, I have set my 2018 goal to 20 books in the Goodreads reading challenge and hope I can manage to achieve this, if not surpass it once more!

We want to know how your 2017 reading year was! Leave us a comment below!

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23Jan / 2018

When you fail your reading challenge…

So….we both failed our Goodreads reading challenges for 2017. What does this mean? What is life, even?

There’s only one thing for it. In the words of Aaliyah (R.I.P.), “dust yourself off and try again”. Here’s some more thoughts:

Janelle says…

I finished my Goodreads 2017 reading challenge at 43 books read out of a goal of 48. So close, I could throttle something (I’m looking at you, 11.22.63).

I’ve never not completed my Goodreads challenge before. At first I was in a bit of shock, how could this be? I ALWAYS finished my Goodreads challenge. But you know, as much as I would have liked to have read 5 books on 31 December to sneak over the line, that will never happen. No use crying about it, right? I still read 43 books, which is amazing and I’m really happy with that.

On a side note, I also failed my #ShelfLove reading challenge for 2017. Man, I was crrrrap at challenges last year! I was aiming to read between 21-30 unread books off my own shelves, but I ended up only reading 16. Still, that’s more than I got to for this challenge in 2016, so I guess that’s something. And this year I REALLY want to stay away from the library more. I MEAN IT (this time).

More about our 2018 reading goals later…

Mel says…

I set my 2017 Goodreads goal at 30 books….I failed miserably and only managed to scrape over halfway with 18/30 books.

Much like Janelle, I blame 11/22/63 for taking up MONTHS of my time with its 1000+ pages but because it was SO good, I will get over that.

2017 was the year I decided to focus on differing genres and I am so glad I did. I discovered some excellent new authors and am very excited for what’s to come in 2018.

How about you? Did you win at any reading challenges last year?

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20Aug / 2017

Adventures on the bookternet – favourite BookTubers

It’s time for more ADVENTURES ON THE BOOKTERNET!

Today we look at some of my favourite BookTubers. Yes I said BookTubers, which if you don’t know, is a thing. BookTubers will typically vlog about what they are planning to read next, or review their recent reads, or talk about books they recently purchased or otherwise received. In between, they might post videos about more specific bookish topics, like “Books that have been in my TBR pile forever!”, or “My favourite books in translation”, or “Book mail unboxing”.

BookTube is a great way to find book reviews and new books to add to your TBR. Personally, I also enjoy living vicariously through BookTubers when they vlog about the 14 books they purchased in the last month, when I might have bought 1 or 0.

My favourite time to watch BookTube is while preparing dinner, with a glass of wine in hand. Perfection.

Here are some of my favourites to get you started:

SavidgeReads

One of my favourite BookTube channels to start off with. Simon Savidge also co-hosts The Readers podcast, which I mentioned in my post about favourite podcasters. I love his chatty, funny, sometimes fumbly style, and how he often “goes off on a tangent” (his BookTube style is exactly the same as his podcast style). His videos are mainly wrap-ups and hauls, but he also does “coffee and a catch-up” videos, occasional unboxing videos, and sometimes joins in with random “tags” (kind of like “linkys” in the blog world). His taste tends towards literary fiction, but with occasional thrillers and poetry thrown in.

PeruseProject

Regan is as bubbly as they come, her energy is infectious! She LOVES books and LOVES talking about books. Her wheelhouse is YA and fantasy, and her channel is mainly reviews, wrap-ups and hauls. So if you’re thinking about picking up something in the YA or fantasy genres and wouldn’t mind hearing someone else’s opinion on it first, this is the place to come. Chances are Regan’s read it!

MercysBookishMusings

Whenever I jump on to check BookTube, this is pretty much the first channel I’ll check on to see if anything’s new. Mercy’s “About” page reads “I’m just someone who enjoys reading. I don’t have a degree in English Literature and I’ll never write a novel.” I love her channel for her honest, no-holds-barred reviews, and the fact that her tastes are very similar to my own (literary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, non-fiction). If you want to get a taste for her style, check out one of my favourite reviews by Mercy – A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I love how riled up she gets, fantastic! Language warning though.

Jen Campbell

Jen is a bit of a BookTube institution. Her observations are so well-constructed, sometimes she has a way of saying something that makes you think “yes! I thought the same but didn’t know how to put it into words!”. She has a wide variety of videos, if you look at her playlists you see what I mean. Apart from the usual wrap-ups and hauls, she talks about diversity in books, poetry, publishing (she is also an author), and general chats, among other things. Her tastes tend to sway more towards literary fiction, poetry, and fairy tales.

Lauren and the Books

Watching Lauren talk about books just makes me want to be her friend – she’s casual, happy, and just generally seems to be having a great time. She created the Cosy Reading Night, a seasonal event that anyone can join in with on BookTube, Twitter, Instagram, or wherever you are on the internet. The idea is that you drop everything for a few hours on the night that’s been chosen, grab yourself some books, some snacks (the snacks are a VITAL part of this), get cosy, and do some readin’. What could be better? Lauren tends towards literary fiction, and she also looooves Harry Potter. She has a diverse range of videos, so there’s something for everyone to love here.

That should be enough to get you started! Let me know if you watch any of these channels, or if you follow any other BookTubers we should know about!

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18Apr / 2017

How do you read so much?

Janelle says…

I get asked this question all the time. I work five days a week, I have two children, I go to the gym and do yoga, and I read. I don’t feel like I read a huge amount, I average about one book per week. But for some people, that’s a lot more reading than they themselves manage. They can’t fathom how I can get this amount of reading done along with tending to all my other responsibilities and obligations, which may be similar to what they have going on in their own lives. So I’m always being asked, “How do you find the time?”. Here’s how I find it:

Audiobooks

In my opinion this is the quickest way to increasing the number of books you read. If you listen to books on audio, you can listen to them at times when it is impossible to be reading a print or e-book. In the car. In the morning while getting ready for work. At the gym. While you take the dog for a walk. While you hang out the washing. While you pick up the dog poop off the lawn. While you make dinner. I listen to audiobooks in all of the above scenarios, and let me tell you, if I consistently always had an audiobook on the go, I would double the number of books I get through, guaranteed. It’s also a lot easier to get your hands on audiobooks than you might think – public libraries have them available for loan on mp3, trusty old cd, or through the free BorrowBox app so you can listen on your phone.

Reading on my lunch break

I can’t function during the day unless I have a lunch break away from my desk, and I try to make sure that break includes reading. Preferably outside in the sun. Not only is this very good for you, especially if you work at a desk in front of a screen like me, but it will help push you through those pages faster. It all adds up!

Reading every night

I also can’t function unless I read every night. At least in bed before sleep, if not during the time leading up to going to bed. This is when I get most of my reading done. If I manage to devote myself entirely to reading for the night after the kids go to sleep, this gives me at least a good one-and-a-half hours of page turning. There are plenty of other distractions though, like my phone and Netflix, so this is about dedication and prioritising how you want to spend your time. If you would like to spend more of your evening time reading, you simply need to make that commitment to yourself. Leave your phone in another room or turn it off. Grab a blanket and a cup of tea, and sit in a quiet comfy corner somewhere and just immerse yourself in it.

Sign up for a reading challenge

Maybe you’re the competitive type who would be spurned on by a challenge? There are plenty of them out there, to suit whatever it is you would like to get out of your reading. Simply want to read more books? Try the Goodreads annual reading challenge. Want to diversify and broaden your reading horizons? Give the Book Riot Read Harder challenge a go. I wrote a post about some reading challenges taking place in 2017, so check that out for some suggestions if you’d like to add a bit of extra motivation to your reading life.

Start a book blog with your sister so you feel obligated to read

That way you’ll have to read at least one thing every month, lest you be shamed in front of the whole internet!

Have I missed anything? Do you have any other tips for bringing more reading in to your life?

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02Jan / 2017

2016 wrap-up – our top books and reading goals

Aaaaaand that’s a wrap on 2016! Despite all the crapness of this year, reading was one thing that went reasonably well for us. For one thing, both of us met our Goodreads Reading Challenge targets…..

And really, what could be a better indicator of a successful year, I ask you?

Here’s a rundown of our year in reading:

Janelle says…

My top 5 books of the year

Three Dark Crowns – Kendare Blake

This was everything I want from a fantasy novel, and there is more to come from this series, which leaves me giddy with gleeful anticipation.

The Girl With All The Gifts – M.R. Carey

Not your average zombie novel, this had a mix of genre tones, touching on science fiction, thriller, and literary. Very satisfying.

Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty

Speaking of satisfying, this was the bookish equivalent of slipping on your comfiest trackpants, and sinking into your couch with a tub of ice cream, a spoon, and Netflix. Devilish drama.

Fear Is The Rider – Kenneth Cook

Whenever I think back to this book, my pulse quickens a notch. Clear your schedule for a few hours before cracking this one open, you won’t to get off this ride until the end.

Tiny Beautiful Things – Cheryl Strayed

I think this will forever be a book I go back to again and again in different phases of my life, and one I recommend and gift to others repeatedly. It should be on everyone’s shelves, liquid gold for the soul.

My reading goals

I originally set my Goodreads reading challenge goal at 36 books for the year, but I crept up close to it in the second half of the year so I extended it out to 40 books. And I still managed to beat that too! This is the most I’ve ever read in one year ever, so I’m super happy! Although my final number should be 47, not 46. I read Tiny Beautiful Things again in 2016, but Goodreads only lets you assign one completion date to each book, so it’s stuck on the original date I first finished it in 2015.

I was also taking part in the Shelf Love Challenge this year, which was basically a pledge to read your own books, in an effort to get through more of the many unread books sitting on my own shelves. My goal was to have read between 11-20 of my own books this year. I was pretty rubbish at this challenge in the first half of the year, being unable to resist the temptation of library books. But I picked up my game in the second half, with a final total of 15 books read from my own shelves. I’m not counting ARCs (advanced reader copies) or audiobooks in this final tally, because both of those types of books are ones that expire after a certain period of time. And my focus for this challenge was the physical books on my shelves. So I achieved this goal, but definitely room for improvement next year!

Mel says…

My top 5 books of the year

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series – Ransom Riggs

This book series was my favourite YA of the year and the entire series makes my top 5, as each book was brilliant and unique. I couldn’t devour all 3 books fast enough, so now I just need to prepare myself for the movies. They better not ruin the bookish magic….

The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins

I was a little late to the party on this one, but it didn’t disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and devoured multiple packets of Tim Tams while I greased up the pages of my book, with swift page turning goodness.

Wildflower – Drew Barrymore

This book was my second favourite read of the year. What’s not to love about Drew, really?! After reading Wildflower, all I wanted to do was make daisy chains and sit in the sun. She is just such a beautiful and pure person. Love her even more, now!

Truly Madly Guilty – Liane Moriarty

I couldn’t decide between TMG or Moriarty’s other standout, Big Little Lies. But seeings as Janelle included BLL in her top 5, I’ll go with TMG. Another great guilty pleasure, full of suspense, drama and a few LOL’s. This is a great read for any fan of Moriarty, who enjoys her style of writing.

Tiny Beautiful Things – Cheryl Strayed

By far my number one read of 2016. This book has CHANGED MY LIFE! I gifted copies of TBT to some close girlfriends, because I loved it so so much. This book is perfect for anyone who has ever said ‘WTF?’ about ANYTHING, so basically, this book is for everyone.

My reading goals

I initially set my Goodreads reading challenge at 15 books, as I was due to have my first baby in March and assumed that I would struggle to read much at all. But somehow I found a way and soon bypassed my initial goal somewhere in the middle of the year, so reset my goal to 23, which I achieved with 2 weeks of the year still remaining. Like Janelle, this is the most books I have ever read in a single year, so next year I hope to push myself even more and continue to explore differing genres.

How was your reading in 2016? Did you have any goals that you accomplished? What were your favourite reads of the year?

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20Dec / 2016

Ten books I wouldn’t mind Santa leaving under my tree

I’m joining in with The Broke and the Bookish for the first time for Top Ten Tuesday, where a new Top Ten List theme is posted every week. I particularly liked this week’s theme – Ten books I wouldn’t mind Santa leaving under my tree. Very timely for those of you who may not have bought me my Christmas presents yet. You’re welcome.

1. Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf

I saw a re-run of the ABC’s Book Club recently in which they talked about this book, and all of the guests raved about it. I think one of them even claimed it was their new favourite book ever? An elderly man and elderly woman who live next door to each other start to lie in bed together at nights, sharing their thoughts and secrets. I can’t decide whether it sounds sweet, sad, or like a shitstorm waiting to happen.

2. The Sixth Extinction – Elizabeth Kolbert

I’ve got a bit of a non-fiction craving at the moment (and yet I’m currently reading fiction?), so this and the other non-fiction picks in this list are the ones I really can’t wait to get to. This one is about the so-called Sixth Extinction that will follow the previous five in the Earth’s natural history, why it is happening, and what we can or can’t do about it. Terrifying. And awesome.

3. Pandemic – Sonia Shah

Another non-fiction which is bound to scare the pants off me. This one looks at how contagious diseases have formed into deadly pandemics in the past, and the evidence that predicts another major pandemic is on its way. Hold me. Actually no, don’t touch me.

4. The Witches: Salem 1692 – Stacy Schiff

The Salem Witch Trials, through a holistic view of the social and cultural context of the time. Sounds good to me.

thewitches

5. The Emperor of all Maladies – Siddhartha Mukharjee

The subtitle is “A Biography of Cancer” – from its first appearances to the modern day race to find a cure. I’ve heard nothing but good things.

6. The Wolf Road – Beth Lewis

A young girl is brought up in the woods by a gruff man named Trapper. She sees him on a Wanted poster in town, and then understandably runs away, with the police hot on her heels.

7. The Sparrow – Mary Doria Russell

When Ann from the Books on the Nightstand podcast said this was probably her favourite book, I just knew I would need to read it. Humans discover extra-terrestrial life, and a religious sect sends a secret mission out into space to make contact.

8. Vengeance Road – Erin Bowman

This just sounds like a delicious Western, perfect for summer. The description makes me think of Red Dead Redemption (my favourite video game ever).

download

9. The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer

This sounds like one of those really deep novels where you follow a bunch of characters through the majority of their lives, and you just become immersed in them and their struggles and self-discovery.

10. Daring Greatly – Brene Brown

Given how much I adored both Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, I think this would be right in my wheelhouse of books that inspire me, make me feel worthy and fill me with courage.

So, if you’re reading this Santa, all or any combination of the above would make me a very happy lady this Christmas!

Have you read any of the books listed above? What books would you like to receive for Christmas this year?

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07Oct / 2016

Bookfair book haul!

My biggest bookfair haul yet!

Janelle says…

A couple of weeks ago was one of our most anticipated events of the year – the spring Lifeline bookfair (the other annual event we anticipate being the summer bookfair, of course). I took a leave day from work to go to the bookfair….using the excuse that I was taking the day off in lieu of my birthday which was 3 days earlier. But who am I kidding, I would have taken the day off regardless! Despite the fair being held in a smaller venue than usual this time, resulting in quite a squishy and uncomfortable experience, Mel and I (and baby Phoebe!) still had a ball as we always do. We were there for around 4 hours which is a bit of a record for us, and really made a morning of it, stopping for a coffee and a snack and a peruse of our books halfway through.

In my years of attending the bookfair I have learned some valuable lessons-

the best time to go is always 9am on the first day – somehow, this is when the best books are up for grabs;
you mustn’t rely on a tote/grocery/shoulder bag to carry your books in, lest you be in pain. Rolling suitcases are the only way to go;
always carry water and a snack, just in case;
if you see a book that you’re not too sure about, just pick it up anyway. You can review your finds and cull them later if you must, but just go go go!

You see that picture up there? Probably one of my favourite pictures ever. And let’s face it, probably one of my best days ever! Anyway, the excitement still hasn’t worn off for me yet. I still have the massive book pile on the floor next to my bed (because I’ve run out of bookshelf space) which I look at every day, and it both makes me smile and makes me hyperventilate because WHEN AM I GOING TO FIND THE TIME TO READ THEM ALL?!

I went to the bookfair with no specific “list” in mind. I just know in my head what books are on my TBR, and my plan was – if you see them, grab them! So, what did I grab?

Books I don’t really know much about, but bought because I have heard either it or the author mentioned somewhere before, and/or because I liked the cover:

The World Without Us – Mireille Juchau

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: and other lessons from the crematory – Caitlin Doughty

The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell

After the Crash – Michel Bussi

The Paying Guests – Sarah Waters

Burial Rites – Hannah Kent

Clade – James Bradley

Swamplandia! – Karen Russell

The Hive – Gill Hornby

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August – Claire North

Books I bought by authors I haven’t read before, but because I’m jumping on the bandwagon:

The Passage – Justin Cronin

Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell

Carry On – Rainbow Rowell

Landline – Rainbow Rowell

Books I bought because I have the first books in the series and want to have a full set, even though I haven’t read those first books yet:

Home – Marilynne Robinson

Lila – Marilynne Robinson

A God in Ruins – Kate Atkinson

Books over which I audibly squealed when I found them, such was my delight:

The Natural Way of Things – Charlotte Wood

Girl Waits with Gun – Amy Stewart

Gold Fame Citrus – Claire Vaye Watkins

Oryx & Crake – Margaret Atwood

Books I found which weren’t previously on my TBR, but which spoke to me at the time:

A Journey to Peace through Yoga – Lynette Dickinson

Ice Cream & Sadness – Cyanide & Happiness Vol. 2

So this brought my total of books I own and haven’t read up to 135, noting that I have since read The Natural Way of Things. I don’t want to think about how many years it will take me to read the other 134….

Have you read any of the above books? If so, what did you think? Did you go to the Lifeline bookfair?

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20Jul / 2016

Why must I procrastinate when I should be reading?

Janelle says…

So, picture this. The day is over, you’re at home, dinner is done, if there are kids at your place they are in bed, the night lays ahead in all its wondrous possibility. It’s perfect reading time of course!

You settle in to a cosy spot with your book and a cup of tea, looking forward to an uninterrupted few hours of quiet reading. You open your book and read a page or so, and then you remember something you wanted to quickly check online, so you grab your phone and start tapping away. Next thing you know, an hour and a half has gone by and you’ve only just looked up from your phone, and you can’t quite believe that that much time has passed without you being able to recall what it is you’ve actually been doing. Another night of maximum reading potential, lost. AGAIN.

Does this sound familiar to you? Even if you replace reading in the story with some other favourite pastime that you would like more time for. Yet for some unfathomable reason, whenever you actually do get a window of opportunity to indulge in your hobby of choice, you seem to subconsciously sabotage it!

I don’t know why I do this, and possibly I should just teach myself to turn my phone off and hide it/hand it over to someone else/bury it. The reason is not because I’m not enjoying the book/s I’m reading, because I do this even when I’m deep in love and suspense with a story. Perhaps I’m just too curious a person to stay away from the internet for more than two minutes? Perhaps I really do just have too much to check/research/manage online that I can’t afford the time away? Or perhaps on some level, I can’t quite believe my luck at having a whole 2 or 3 hours free just for reading, and because it’s too good to be true I just throw it away instead?

Anyway, whatever the reason, writing this post has just cost me a good 20 minutes’ reading time. If you’ll excuse me…..

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28Jun / 2016

Adventures on the Bookternet – favourite podcasters

Janelle says…

Because I am clearly hopeless at maintaining any kind of regular posting schedule (it’s been 5 weeks since my last post – the shame!), I thought I would take you on a tour through some of my favourite parts of the bookish internet, where I can be found regularly lurking and savouring every delicious morsel of booky goodness. That way, with your attention diverted elsewhere, you won’t notice the fact that I apparently don’t blog ever.

I love podcasts. I listen to them when I’m getting ready in the morning, in the car on the way to and from work, at home while I’m hanging out the washing or folding clothes, and with a glass of wine while I’m preparing dinner. It’s amazing how fast you can get through a podcast when you are using all of these small snippets of available time to listen to one. I usually get through one hour-long podcast a day with ease, sometimes two.

Here are some tried-and-true favourites!

Image via Gratisography

Book Riot

The Riot actually have a number of podcasts available, and they are all fantastic. The Podcast is a weekly discussion of news, gossip, trends and stats from the book world. All The Books is a shorter weekly series which discusses new books released each week (really great for building up your TBR and getting on library hold lists early). Get Booked is a recommendation show where anyone (even you!) can write in requesting any kind of book recommendation. I may have done this already and been recommended some books in an early episode….And finally, Dear Book Nerd is a bi-weekly advice show with new guest co-hosts each episode. And if you like any of these shows, there are hefty back episodes to keep you busy!

The Readers

The Readers is hosted by UK-based Simon Savidge and US-based Thomas Otto. Their discussions are broad-ranging, from talking about literary prizes, to answering listener questions, to playing bookish games….it’s never boring. And the dynamic between these two is so amusing, they’re often poking fun at each other and making me laugh. Like settling in for a chat with friends.

Literary Disco

I’m quite new to the Literary Disco podcast, but my plan is to go back through the catalogue and catch up on previous episodes. The 3 hosts – Julia, Tod, and Rider – clearly have a lot of fun recording the podcast and talking about books together. There is also a lot of laughing, and sometimes a bit of swearing. They discuss individual books in detail, but also segue into more general bookish chat too.

Drunk Booksellers

Well c’mon, as if you can resist it, look at the title! I am also new to Drunk Booksellers, and not only enjoying catching up on past episodes, but also the GIF-heavy, highly amusing show notes. With episodes conveniently portioned into chapters with titles such as “In Which We Discuss Radioactive Bookworms, Lawnmowers, and What Makes a Good Event“, and “In Which We Discuss Book Problems in the Apocalypse, Kim & Emma Learn About Cities in Canada, and Sam & Emma Get In a Fight“, you know you’re going to be entertained.

So that should keep you busy for a while? Let me know what your favourite podcasts are!

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15Apr / 2016

Check-in! #ShelfLove and Goodreads Reading Challenges

Janelle says…

I’ve set myself two reading challenges this year – my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge for the total number of books I want to read in 2016, and the #ShelfLove challenge, designed to motivate readers to prioritise books from their own shelves over new purchases or library books. Considering it’s somehow April now (what?), I thought it might be time to check in and see if I’m on track to win these babies!

First of all, my Goodreads challenge. I’ve committed to read 36 books in total this year, and so far this is how I’m tracking:

Woohoo, going strong! 13 books read so far equates to an average of one book per week, and considering it’s been a busy year to date, I’m happy with that. I’m even considering extending my challenge to maybe 40 or more books. I like to live on the edge.

Secondly, the #ShelfLove challenge. I wanted at least half of my total books read this year to be books I personally own. Based on a goal of 36 books read in total, my #ShelfLove challenge was for 11 – 20 of those books to come from my own shelves. I’m including advance reader copies from publishers or Netgalley as my own books, because they are sitting on my shelf, just not my physical shelf because they’re usually ebooks.

So far, 6 of my 13 books read have been my own books. Not bad, but that means that 7 of the 13 books have been from the library/borrowed from someone else. No, bookworm, that’s a bad bookworm!

So I’ve got some work to do on that challenge, especially considering that my current read is a library book, and I have another one on hold at the library right now. Mo’ books, mo’ problems, amirite?

Are you doing a reading challenge this year? How are you tracking?

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Check-in! #ShelfLove and Goodreads Reading Challenges

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