I’m still new to blogging and have not yet found my voice. So I spend a lot of time reading other book blogs to see what is going on the book blog world. Over the weekend I noticed that a lot of bloggers not only recap the prior month but also blog about the reading month ahead. So that’s my plan for today! Here are my reading plans for June.
I have three books to finish reading this month: S by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Graveminder by Melissa Marr. I’m very close to finishing all of them in the next week or two.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn are both for the Book Riot Read Hader 2016 Challenge. My good friend Dayle and my husband both recommend Station Eleven highly so I’m really looking forward to reading it. Another good friend, Daniela, gave me The Sharper the Knife for my birthday years ago and I’m just now getting to it.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is new to my TBR, and is a literary sensation. I’ve not read a review for it that doesn’t praise it. Which makes me nervous. What if it doesn’t live up to my expectations? I have been disappointed by sensations before. But this month I’m taking the dive into it. I’ll let you know my thoughts at some point! On Beauty by Zadie Smith is also new to the TBR, but I’ve been looking forward to reading it for years.
And all the books on my June TBR pile are owned by me. I’m still working on the #readmyowndamnbooks challenge.
Other Stuff
Speaking of challenges, I’m participating in another challenge, y’all! This one is hosted by Estella’s Revenge. It’s the #WeekofReveiws just click on the link to learn more about it or sign up to participate. Basically, between June 13th and 19th I will post a new book review everyday. My reasons for doing this are bit different than Estella’s. I’m very shy about reviewing books online even though that is one of the reasons why I started this blog. So rather than putting it off any longer, I’m using the challenge to kick-start my book review writing.
This week I will be writing those reviews, so if you have any tips or suggestions for writing book reviews, be sure to post them in the comments.
Coffee and Cats 
I remember well wondering how to fill my blog once I’d got it started up and I did exactly what you are doing, taking a look around at other blogs and choosing the bits that appeal most. I don’t do a monthly wrap up, I didn’t used to do a weekly one but I recently started to put all the snippets of news in that didn’t warrant a post of their own.
As for review writing – I’d say is write what you feel, trying to use another voice is a risky strategy. I format mine all to be a similar sort of length but it is those I feel passionately about (either love a lot or disliked) that seem to garner the most responses!
Good luck, just put that pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard which doesn’t sound quite so snappy)
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Thanks for the tips. I probably wont be happy with my first reviews, but I need to do it to get in the groove!
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Looks like you have an awesome TBR stack for this month! Since I started book blogging I started looking forward to the end/beginning of the month…it’s fun to look back on what you’ve read and then plan for a whole new stack. It gets addicting!
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I agree. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.
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Yay! I don’t remember every detail about TSTK, but I hope you enjoy! –I think specifics are important when reviewing–this might include short selective quotes or summaries and then your commentary, not always unlike a literary analysis, but you can determine the depth of it.
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Yay! You found your password!
I agree about the summary of the book and careful use of quotations. I just don’t want to turn my reviews into dry, lit reviews! (I’m thinking about the audience!) Plus I plan on linking to my reviews from Goodreads, twitter, and Litsy. And Instagram if I ever get around to getting an account.
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I love the wide range of books you’re reading. So, given you have a fluid, readable writing style, my advice would be to write about the books that stirred you up. I always imagine I’m having a chat to someone about this book I’ve recently finished. And before you start, be clear as to your reviewing policy. Are you going to write negative reviews? Are you going to have a star rating and if so, how detailed will it be? I think your instincts are correct to avoid turning it into a literary-style examination – apparently the most popular reviews range between 300-700 words. Hope some of the above helps – oh, and the best advice of all – have fun doing it:). Good luck!
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What kind things to say. Thank you. I think that writing it as if to a friend is advice I’m going to take. I think that will help take the pressure off of me. And I do need to sit down and think about my reviewing policies. I haven’t clarified the in my own mind, so off to see what other bloggers have as their policies!
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It all depends on how you read, I think. If you always complete a book you start, even if you don’t like it all that much, you may want to share with people why you disliked it. I think many serious reviewers regard that as part of their mission. Others don’t get through books they don’t like, so obviously, cannot review them. Or maybe don’t like the idea of criticising books in their blog. There is no right or wrong in this – so long as the critique is honest and respectful of the author, which I’m sure would be your stance. You strike me as a person of integrity:).
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Welcome welcome 🙂 I still feel very young myself in this world (3 months?).. At first I thought book bloggers just posted book reviews and that’s all I had plans for but I also discovered from reading others that there is so much more (tags, ‘awards’, recaps, memes…). I love Station Eleven! Looking forward to your thoughts on it, and Happy Reading and Blogging 🙂
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