Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Wednesday Chatter #20: Why Being International Is Awesome
Wednesday Chatter is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books where we'll be talking about anything and everything related to books and reading. Click here if you want to see what we talked about in the previous weeks
WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Do I need to go on? No? Thought so.
In case you're wondering who these awesome human cupcakes are, Pagan over at Paperback Kingdom compiled a list including all of them, a list that's growing constantly by the way, so be sure to check it regularly. Also, check out Fanna @ Fannality, as she interviews each of the members of the group who signed up for an interview/guest post over on her blog. As a side note, my dear friend Rafael from The Royal Polar Bear Reads also has a blogger spotlight feature where he interviews bloggers, but I don't know if all of them are in the International Book Bloggers group. I may be wrong, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, this is why being international is awesome. And I'm glad I get to end 2017 with this Wednesday Chatter, because I can only imagine how much better 2018 will be with these amazing people.
P.S.: If you want to be a part of such an awesome group and if you're international, send me a tweet over on my Twitter account and I'll see what I can do.
WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Hey everyone! I think it's safe to say that, by now, you all probably know about the limitations Netgalley and Goodreads have put on authors and international readers. You've seen the posts, the tweets, the confusion and anger, which I've felt, as well as many, many other international readers and reviewers. It's only natural.
Source: Giphy
And before anyone starts thinking "OMG, yet another international blogger complaining about ARCs", the point is so not about the ARCs here. The entire situation is not about that. I'm one of the lucky, privileged bloggers that do get ARCs even if I'm international. But the ARCs are not the point.
And this post isn't about the negative side. It's about the positive side. Here's why:
After people started discovering the changes in Netgalley and Goodreads, a bunch of international bloggers started getting together. And lo and behold the International Book Bloggers group was born. And here's why it is absolutely awesome:
1. Meeting new people and making friends
It is fantastic to discover bloggers. I love the feeling, because we're not only united by a common passion, which is books, but I got to discover the people behind the blogs. I can safely say I've made new friends. They're truly awesome people and beside following each other and supporting each other, we're really just people having fun, talking, making friends, and being nice.
2. Support Group
This is obviously one of the "perks" if you want to call them that, but not only do we follow each other, we also support each other. There's no competition over there to be the "best", the most popular or to one up one another. Which is something I think a lot of bloggers have forgotten a little bit. We've all heard the talk about the competitive side of the community, but when you dig deep enough, you realize it's actually not competitive at all. Which to me never made any sense. It's not as if certain books are available only to a certain group of people, while the rest of the population doesn't have access to them. We're not in the middle ages, basically. In the time I've been in that group, the members have shared giveaway links, tutorials, blogging hacks and ideas, arc announcements, they've commented on each other's blog posts and have been offering encouragements. If that doesn't prove that this isn't a competitive group, I don't know what will.
Before you go thinking that we're only talking about books, let me tell you, it is not true. We talk about everything and anything. Wanna talk about fitness? You can do that. Video games? They're your people. TV shows and movies? Most definitely. Vent about something? You can do that too. Want a virtual party? You guessed it, we got that too.
It's a safe place and I don't say that to get on anyone's good side.
3. Non-bookish Support and General Fun
Before you go thinking that we're only talking about books, let me tell you, it is not true. We talk about everything and anything. Wanna talk about fitness? You can do that. Video games? They're your people. TV shows and movies? Most definitely. Vent about something? You can do that too. Want a virtual party? You guessed it, we got that too.
It's a safe place and I don't say that to get on anyone's good side.
It just has that feeling, you know?
Do I need to go on? No? Thought so.
In case you're wondering who these awesome human cupcakes are, Pagan over at Paperback Kingdom compiled a list including all of them, a list that's growing constantly by the way, so be sure to check it regularly. Also, check out Fanna @ Fannality, as she interviews each of the members of the group who signed up for an interview/guest post over on her blog. As a side note, my dear friend Rafael from The Royal Polar Bear Reads also has a blogger spotlight feature where he interviews bloggers, but I don't know if all of them are in the International Book Bloggers group. I may be wrong, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, this is why being international is awesome. And I'm glad I get to end 2017 with this Wednesday Chatter, because I can only imagine how much better 2018 will be with these amazing people.
P.S.: If you want to be a part of such an awesome group and if you're international, send me a tweet over on my Twitter account and I'll see what I can do.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Top Ten Tuesday #17: Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to In 2018
Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.
Happy Holidays my dear bookworms! The year may not be over just yet, but I've been getting excited about 2018 for months now. Why? Because it's a really good year for literature in my opinion. I am dying to get my hands on a ton of books and I'll try really really hard to stick to just ten of them. So without further ado, here's Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2018:
1. Legendary by Stephanie Garber - After reading and loving Caraval I cannot wait for Legendary to be out.
2. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian - The blurb reminds me a little of Ruined, which I loved. Plus, I love revenge stories :D
3. Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong - I decided 2018 will be the year I'll read series endings, and one of the series I need to finish is Armstrong's Women Of The Otherworld
4. Sea Witch by Sarah Henning - Ursula. Need I say more?
5. Dealing In Dreams by Lilliam Rivera - There's something about this book that calls to me. I can't exactly tell what, but I usually don't question this feeling, as it's helped me discover great books that I love. I cannot wait to see the cover.
6. Indiscretion by Hannah Fielding - I've had by eye on this book for a while now. I love the sensual feel of the story, and the cover art is fantastic.
7. The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell - One of my other auto-read theme is Robin Hood. And this book is a retelling of Robin Hood's tale and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
8. The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green - Fantasy. I don't need a better reason than that.
9. Furyborn by Claire Legrand - I love books told from dual POVs, especially when they don't happen simultaneously, but a length of time separates the two main characters.
10. Between The Blade And The Heart by Amanda Hocking - I love the myth of Valkyries and I try to read as many books with them as I can.
My list is way, way longer than this to be very honest, but I decided to limit myself at just 10 books. What about you? What are ten books you cannot wait to read in 2018?
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