I managed to finish quite a few books before the end of the year and I’m getting behind with my reviews already. It’s not a typical problem that I have but I don’t want to start 2023 with a huge backlog of books to review. So, I’m bringing back an old favourite to get two out of the way at once. As the third book ended up being in my top 5 books of the year, I figure it’s only fair to give it its own post. I’m not sure that I’d have enough to say about the others to warrant a longer post.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m terrible at sticking to a TBR. This is why I don’t really set one each month. The closest that I get is possibly aiming to read a certain book. The less I commit the more likely it is that I’ll do it. Any hint of pressure and I lose all interest to pick the book up. This is one of the books that I should have got to earlier. It was meant to be a September read because that was Alopecia awareness in the UK. This is the first novel not aimed at children with alopecia representation, so I was interested to read it.
I finally feel as though I’m making my way through my ARC backlog. To the extent that I almost requested some more today. I haven’t yet but I’m sure it won’t be long. The latest one that I’ve finished is a book that I wasn’t sure about. It was one of those that I requested on NetGalley but didn’t expect to get. If I’m honest, I don’t expect to get any of the books that I request. I also always feel really cheeky asking, which is ridiculous. After all, it’s standard practice for publishers to give out free copies and digital copies aren’t exactly going to cost anyone anything. It just goes to show that there isn’t anything that I won’t feel awkward about.
Do you ever get those books that just live in your online shopping basket forever? This was one of those books. I was interested in reading it but not enough to actually go through with it. I guess I just wasn’t totally convinced by the premise. I mean, another book that wanted to explore the impact of your online life on your real life? Yeah, we haven’t seen something like that before. I know this was nominated for a bunch of stuff but it just sounded like the kind of book that had the potential to be disappointing. So, I didn’t really feel like wasting money on the hardback. It was only when the audiobook came up on Audible for £3 that I decided to give it a go. The fact that it was also under 5 hours long helped my decision. I’ve been getting behind on my schedule quite regularly at the moment, which is why I’m posting this on Friday instead of Wednesday as usual. It’s too hot to read and writer anything.
Earlier this week the Irish Times published a review of writer Dolly Alderton’s debut novel Ghost. The review was negative and its tone caused some major controversy on social media. There were plenty of people who believed the review shouldn’t have been published and was overly harsh. Something that was deemed even worse considering the novel was her first fictional release. I wasn’t planning on discussing it all because I haven’t read the book in question. In fact, I’ve not ready anything written by Alderton so I wasn’t exactly emotionally invested in the saga. This week, something happened to change my mind. Something that wasn’t linked to this story in anyway but certainly got me thinking about it.
Twitter is a pretty horrible place to be. All you need to do is look at the Twitterstorm that hit Yorkshire Tea a few weeks ago. On the plus side, it gave us the immortal phrase “Sue, you’re shouting at tea!” On the minus, it showed us how fucking crazy people can be. I used to work for the company that owns Yorkshire Tea and met one of the people on their marketing team. He was a nice guy and I’m sure everyone at the Yorkshire Tea marketing team is. Definitely not the kind of people who deserve abuse being hurled at them for something that was beyond their control. But that’s the kind of world that we live in. That a politician can be seen drinking a specific tea and then a whole host of people demand a boycott of the brand in response. Despite the fact that the original post wasn’t an advertisement. The real issue with social media is that it’s fooled people into thinking that their voice deserves to be heard. It’s changed the idea of what freedom of speech means to so many people. It no longer means having the power or right to express your opinions without censorship, restraint, or legal penalty. It means saying whatever the fuck you want and not thinking there are any moral, social, or emotional consequences to them.
I stated this new series last week when I introduced you to my participation in the weekly Instagram challenges set by Creatively Squared. For those that missed it, I’ll just recap what the whole thing is about. Creatively Squared is a website that brings together content creators and brands. The platform has a database of different creators and will match each brand with the most suitable people for their purposes. It’s a fantastic site but I’ve not had the nerve to sign up as a creator. For one thing, I’m still very new at this whole photography thing and, for another, I’d be worried about having adequate time to create. But, for professional creators, it’s a brilliant thing to be involved with. If you’re more of an amateur like me, then you can join their weekly hashtag challenges and become part of the community. Each week a new theme is announced and you have from Monday to Sunday to post your entry. The best are shared through the platform’s Instagram page and, at the end of the week, an ultimate winner is announced. With prizes sometimes up for grabs and the chance to be noticed by other creators, it’s a wonderful thing to be part of.
For just over a year now, I’ve been fairly consistently creating photos for the weekly challenges set by Creatively Squared. At its heart, Creatively Squared is a website that brings together content creators and brands. The platform has a database of different creators and will match each brand with the most suitable people for their purposes. It’s a fantastic site but I’ve not had the nerve to sign up as a creator. For one thing, I’m still very new at this whole photography thing and, for another, I’d be worried about having adequate time to create. But, for professional creators, it’s a brilliant thing to be involved with. If you’re more of an amateur like me, then you can join their weekly hashtag challenges and become part of the community. Each week a new theme is announced and you have from Monday to Sunday to post your entry. The best are shared through the platform’s Instagram page and, at the end of the week, an ultimate winner is announced. With prizes sometimes up for grabs and the chance to be noticed by other creators, it’s a wonderful thing to be part of.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 