The Sunday Snuggle W6/2018 #TheSundaySnuggle

Hello readers!

This week has been much less productive reading-wise than the last one, mainly because I’m increasing my work hours, but I’m still very satisfied with it! I finished a book that I need to return to the library (in three weeks… but my anxiety convinced me I needed to finish it IMMEDIATELY or I wouldn’t make it to the deadline… yes, I know, anxiety logic) and generally am heading again to 80% approval on Netgalley! Just a few books more to go (like… 10…)!

As said last week, we got a few new shelves, and organized the bookshelf, which now has exclusively books! Looks so empty at the moment because I have maybe 30 books on the place I stay during the week for work, and also because it’s only the books I bought since my boyfriend and I moved in together three years ago. On the right are the my TBR books and it looked so scary to realize it occupied 4 cubes, which is the cubes for authors starting with A, B, C and D together…

Interesting Reads Around the Web

FICTIONPHILE – Are You an Avid Reader?

“With just slightly over 100 titles read in 2017, I consider myself to be an avid reader.  I know that some book bloggers read WAY more books than that, but still… I consider myself an avid reader. My husband thinks I’m nuts.  If he read ONE book a year it would be worth shouting about!”

BOOKBUM – Netgalley Picks of the Week

“Hello everyone! Here is my latest Netgalley picks blog post. Happy Monday everyone! I’m actually getting this blog out to you on the correct day, what an achievement! *pat on the back for me*”

TOUCH MY SPINE BOOK REVIEWS – Free Kindle Books Feature: Free to Kill by Julie Melon

“FBI Agent Katie Freeman’s life has been upended. After being reassigned from Louisiana to middle Tennessee, her new bosses suspect that her reassignment is due to an indiscretion with her previous partner. Now, she and her new partner, Michael Powell, are asked to assist on the bewildering case of a woman who was kidnapped, tortured and left for dead on her own front porch.”

Where there’s Ink there’s Paper – A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs by Joanne Major & Sarah Murden

“A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs is a fascinating look into the life of Rachel Charlotte William Biggs and her heroic accomplishments during the Georgian Era. This book was a well-written, well-researched, informative and enjoyable read.”

Nikki’s Novel Niche – BookReview – This Darkness Mine

“Sasha Stone knows her place—first-chair clarinet, top of her class, and at the side of her oxford-wearing boyfriend. She’s worked her entire life to ensure that her path to Oberlin Conservatory as a star musician is perfectly paved.”

thebookishunderdog – January Reads 2018

“It’s been a good start to 2018 (in reading terms, anyway). I found a brand-new favourite novel in January, and am really enjoying my general attitude towards reading at the moment. Gone are the days of reading a book just so I can write a review/tick it off my TBR/add it to my Goodreads challenge! Now I only read books I really want to read, and I feel so much better for it.”

Nut Free Nerd – A Classic Couple: Frankenstein and Jurassic Park

“Do you like science fiction? I hope so, because this week’s Classic Couple feature highlights two famous science fiction novels that have made it to the big screen: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (1990).”

The Washington Post – Kristin Hannah’s next hit: A brave girl confronts her disturbed dad in the Alaskan wild

“Kristin Hannah’s new novel makes Alaska sound equally gorgeous and treacherous — a glistening realm that lures folks into the wild and then kills them there. It’s the essential setting of “The Great Alone,” an epic story about a teenage girl trapped in her parents’ toxic marriage. ”

Electric Literature – 10 Novels Agents Have Already Seen a Billion Times

“As a literary agent, I receive roughly 500 queries, or book pitches, a month. After 11 years of doing this job, I have seen a lot of book ideas. Obviously I’ve noticed trends (did you know all vampires live in Seattle now?) but there are other similarities outside of pop culture or critical mass made evident by the slush pile. When an agent or editor says they are looking for something they’ve never seen before, these are the things we don’t mean.”

The Orangutan Librarian – CAN WE ENJOY PROPAGANDISTIC ART?

“It’s something I’ve been mulling over for a time and I’m not sure I’ve reached any satisfying conclusions. In fact, I’ve been puzzling over what even is propaganda– some definitions seem too narrow and some too broad. I’ve heard some weird things (some that would imply the only way to not be a propagandist is a to be a pantser), yet rather than talk on anecdotal evidence, let’s look at a definition, because I like definitions, as un-definitive as they often are:

“information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.” ”

Fire and Rain Books – HOW YA HAS LIED TO ME

“Yes, YA is fiction. So obviously that means it cannot all be true. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t read books about high school before I got there, and used them to base my expectations of high school off of. We all know YA makes things a lot more convenient for the characters until it needs to make it hard. Some of these conveniences just don’t happen in real life. Some of which I am glad don’t exist, and some of which I still feel cheated of. But here is a list of ways that YA has lied to me.”

Mortal Reader – How Bookstagram Helped Me Fall Back In Love With Reading

“Today I wanted to come at you with a discussion type post on How Bookstagram Helped Me Fall Back In Love With Reading. 
Skeptical and thinking how could Instagram help someone like reading more?! Well your like I was then and I didn’t expect it to work.”

Bookish Videos

I didn’t watch any this week! Oops…

My Readings This Week

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was a big, emotional, heartbreaking ride. The writing is so gorgeous, using of fiction tools to tell a non-fiction story made this even more of a great read. It wasn’t always easy, but I’m sure you’ll also enjoy this emotional punch to the gut if you haven’t read this book already!

I started the Audiobook of Turtles All The Way Down by sheer PEER PRESSURE. Just kidding, but after Alex @ Coffee Loving Bookoholic, Kathy @ Books and Munches and Cait @ Paper Fury were gushing so much after it, I just had to see what the fuss was about. It’s quite good so far, but I’m still in the very beginning, so we’ll see how the story progresses!

I also started on my Kindle The Naturalist, by Andrew Mayne – it’s the story of a computational biologist who is the main suspect in an investigation for the murder of one of his students. Now he must find the culprit before he becomes the next victim. This book is so interesting and such a great thriller! I loved the main character and I will definitely continue to read this series! I’m always down for a good thriller hehehe

For some reason, now I’m in a read-all-the-books-at-the-same-time mood lately, so I picked up The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender again by the end of this week. The story and the writing are really lovely, and I LOVE magical realism books, but I was just okay with the first half of this book – now I’m around page 160 and it got so much better!

Okay, so now I’m obsessed with Alessandra Torre’s books and picked up Hollywood Dirt, which is a delicious romantic comedy with some erotica in it. Her writing is so awesome and I love her main female characters so much! The Ghostwriter is still my favorite, but I enjoyed everything I’ve read from her so far. She’s going to make it to my auto-buy list very quickly!

How was your week? What did you read? Did you read any cool bookish news?