Category: Quick Thought

Quick Thought: Returning “Rough” Reads

January 6, 2019

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

When I first started my blog in 2013, I created a series called “Quick Thoughts“, where I would discuss my opinions about different aspects about the reading/bookish community. While I haven’t continued the series as often as I had hoped, I want to bring it back in 2019 and start discussing some new topics!

Today, I have a question for all of you. When you read a book that you REALLY did not enjoy (1-2 stars), do you ever return it to the bookstore you bought it from?

Recently, I read a book that I really really did not enjoy. I had high expectations since it was a nationally acclaimed book, but I found the writing style very confusing and hard to follow. The premise of the book sounded excellent, but it made an unexpected turn that I did not appreciate.

The book I am talking about happened to be a “Heather’s Pick” novel. Heather Reisman, the CEO of Chapters Indigo, choses books that she has loved, and adds them to her “Heather’s Pick” lists. When a book gets chosen, it is an honour for the author and publishing house. A unique aspect to consider when you purchase books that are apart of this list, is that you have a 100% money back guarantee if you did not enjoy this book.

Personally, I do not think I will be returning this book, because I bought it with the intentions of giving it to my Mom to read, which she has not yet done. However, in other circumstances, I would definitely have considered returning it.

This is a very interesting topic, as a book is a form of entertainment that can be returned after fully being read/”used”. Whenever you watch a movie from a theatre, or watch a live action play or band, you are not allowed to get your money back if you did not enjoy it (in most cases). The same goes for spending money on a class or active session.

What are your thoughts on returning books you did not enjoy? I’d love to chat with all of you in the comments!

Good Night Book Owls!

Quick Thought #20: How to Get Rid of a Book Hangover

October 5, 2018

Hi everybody!

Welcome to the Quick Thought #20! To read all of my previous Quick Thoughts, click here.

In today’s Quick Thought, we are going to be discussing “Book Hangovers”!

A “Book Hangover” is when you read a fantastic book and have trouble picking up a new one because you are still thinking about the events that occurred in the previous one you read.

I suffer from book hangovers a lot, which leads to a lot of the reading slumps that I have over the course of a year. Sometimes I can read literally five books in around two and a half weeks, but other times I will read one amazing book, but then analyze the book over and over again in my head, resulting in not picking another one up until weeks/months later! Since I suffer from “Book Hangovers” so much, I thought I would share my top tips on getting over them.

Tip #1: Have a Reading Schedule and DO NOT change up your schedule no matter what!

Sometimes, one of the best ways I can get over a book hangover is to use a planner or type out in your calendar a strict reading schedule over the next few weeks. I will type out what book I want to read on each day, and how many pages I want to read. Most of the time when I do this, I will either finish the book right on time, or read it even quicker by not following the strict page number counts. That way I am technically ahead of my schedule, which motivates me to pick up even more books in a shorter time span.

Tip #2: Choose a New Format to Read on!

Whenever I am struggling to pick up a new physical book, I like to download one onto my iPad to read. Whenever I read on my iPad, I tend to finish the book a lot easier since I can’t really see how much of the book I have left. Like the first tip, this makes me read a lot faster and encourages me to pick up another book once I am finished the first one. This also includes audiobooks and any other form of book you can think of, but reading on my iPad is my second favourite format to read when I don’t really feel like reading from a physical book.

Tip #3: Plan out a TBR List with Books You Will be Motivated to Read

A TBR (To-Be-Read) list is one of my favourite ways to chose a new book to read after suffering from a “book hangover”! While I post a monthly TBR post on the first of every month, sometimes none of the books will appeal to me at certain times during the month. This is why I like to have a continuous TBR list on my Goodreads.com page. Some of the books I added date back to 2013, and some may have even been added just yesterday! Either way, I am always able to find an interesting book on my TBR list that I may have forgotten I even added onto the list.

Tip #4: Re-read One of Your Old Favourite Books

I have a TON of my favourite books on one particular spot of by bookshelf that I will reach for if I’m ever in a “Book Hangover” or reading slump. These books will motivate me to read more after them, just as I did when I first read them quite a long while ago.

This is a picture of my current favourites shelf, which has some of my favourite books of all time on it!

Tip #5: Ask for a book recommendation that is similar to the book you just finished

“If you like this ___, check out _____.” is one of my favourite features in Chapters/Indigo stores. If I see a book in the “If you like this …” section that I have read and really enjoyed, I will tend to look at the other books to see if any of them interest me. Nine times out of ten, I will pick up one of the recommended books and enjoy them almost as much as the original book! If you don’t have something like this in your local bookstore(s), I recommend searching up other book bloggers that read similar things that you like to read and check out their book recommendations. Most of the time, the blogger will have seasonal recommendations that they write several times during the year, or the will make recommendations based on different genres of books. If you are interested in some of my book recommendations, you can check them out here. As always, if your in the mood for a new book but don’t know what to chose, tweet me @readingreadingr and I will get back to you with a great book recommendation ASAP!!

These are my top-5 tips on getting out of a “Book Hangover”! If you have some of your own tips that I didn’t mention, post them in the comments!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter for sneak peaks of new blog posts, and to see which book(s) I am currently reading!

Good Night Book Owls!

Quick Thought #17: The Reading Slump.

May 3, 2016

Hey everyone!

Sorry I wasn’t able to get this post up earlier this evening! If you’re not from Toronto, or not a sports fan you probably don’t know what happened tonight. Kyle Lowry (from the Toronto Raptors NBA Team) hit a buzzer beater in the 4th quarter, which lead to overtime!! They still lost, but it was an incredible game! Also, Justin Smoak from the Toronto BlueJays (MLB) hit a game tying home run in the 9th inning, and won the game with a walk off home run in the 10th inning. Let’s just say it’s been an eventful evening.

And that my friends is what started my reading slump. Earlier last year, I started paying close attention to the Toronto Blue Jays. I went to my first game, and I slowly became the die-hard fan that I am now! Although, whenever my parents would watch a Blue Jays, that was the time when I’d read and write my blog posts. But now, I watch with them. The point I’m making just comes down to= there aren’t  enough hours in the day!

I also haven’t been in a reading mood lately, but since I’ve been blogging I’m catching up with my GoodReads goal and feel really good about it!

Anyways, I hope that was the last reading slump I will have in a very long time!

The truth is, there really isn’t a way to get rid of a slump. You just have to remember how good it feels when you read and blog, and why you started it in the first place!

Let me know down below if you’ve had any recent reading slumps and how you’ve gotten out of them!

Good Night Book Owls!

Holiday Reading: Quick Thought #16: Starbucks in Bookstores is ALWAYS Better

December 24, 2015

Hi everyone!

One day, I walked into my local bookstore and saw a Starbucks in it! As normal, I ordered the usual,  a Grande Cotton Candy Frappucino. While enjoying it, I realized that Starbucks in Indigo or any cafe in any bookstore is always better! The whole atmosphere is much better than a busy single store, and the baristas are so nice!

Let me know in the comments if you agree with this opinion, or as always chat with me on Twitter @readingreadingreading!

Good Night Book Owls!

Holiday Reading: Quick Thought #15: Giving Back in the Bookish Community

December 22, 2015

Hi everyone!

Today, I thought I would quickly remind you all of the bookish opportunities to donate in your community!

Throughout this time of year when most of us get gifts, we should remember the people who are not fortunate enough to be able to have that opportunity. Many libraries and charities around this time of year look for book donations, and I’m sure us book bloggers have a ton of books to donate!

I’d love to hear if you have done any donating this season in the comments below or feel free to tweet me @readingreadingreading!

Good Night Book Owls!

Quick Thought #14: Things I Learned From Books

April 15, 2015

Hi guys!

Today I’m going to be writing my 14 Quick Thought! I didn’t realize that I have done that many! The topic for today is things that I have learned from books. I pre-think my blog post topics weeks/months in advance, and I guess that when I wrote down this one, I didn’t realize how broad of a topic this was!

The first thing that I learned from books was common sense, or at least how important it is to have it (cough cough **ALL YA DYSTOPIANS**Cough cough)… Many characters in YA books DO NOT have common sense. I know a lot of people who make certain decisions, in which they are not using common sense. Those are the “I know I’ll never do that” moments, and common sense in books is one of them!

Now for a more serious one, I learned that you really have to think about a decisions before you do it! This is seen in many books…Allegiant… There are many repercussions even in fiction books, so you better watch out for that in the real world!

I have also learned that Self-Confidence is key to a happy life. If you are confident about the things you say, wear, and do, then you will have a happy life. This is probably a key point because one of my favourite parts to look for in a book is Character Development. In some cases, it’s almost like watching a baby grow from day 1 to day 365!

So, that was a small snippet into what YA books have thought me thus far. If you would like me to expand on these ideas or do a part 2, let me know in the comments below!

Good Night Book Lions!

Quick Thought #13: Reading Music!

March 29, 2015

Hey guys!

Today, I’m going to be discussing a very interesting topic in the bookish world, and that is listening to music while reading!

I do not like to focus on more then the task I need to do, so for me I don’t like to listen to music while reading. Although, I love to listen to my spotify 2015 march favourites playlist while writing out my blog posts, click this link to listen to it: https://play.spotify.com/user/alyssa_cohen/playlist/6swKEtVqNfaSg7TMdSIt8m/

I find it quite interesting when people listen to music while reading, studying, or doing school work. I could (and still cannot) never understand how in the world people could concentrate. I know at my school, you are a loud to listen to music but with only one ear phone in. This can result in me hearing what music they are playing, which can get very annoying.

My mom (HI MOM I KNOW YOU’RE READING THIS) goes on the subway to work, and she always complains that she can hear teens playing rap music on the subway (at 6:00 in the morning, may I add) and it just drive’s her crazy!

Now, it’s time where you guys kick in! I would love to hear your thoughts on reading and listening to music now that you know my opinion!

Good Night Book Lions and see you tomorrow!