Sunday Coffee & Blog Hop #5

Morning, guys! How are you doing?

I woke up at 5 a.m. today, currently having my first bucketful of coffee and am trying to make sense of the book I’m reading. The First City by Joe Hart is the final book in The Dominion Trilogy, and even though I read the previous part in June, I’m not quite sure what is happening, and who some of the people mentioned are.

Yesterday we went to an organic food festival with my besties. It was my first time visiting Battersea Park, and it was freakin’ awesome. Also, it’s now obvious that I need glasses, after my friend suggested we sit on a bench, the one with a crow, and my reaction this was “What crow?“. It was the size of fucking a cat!

We ended up staying for five hours, tried a vegan beetroot burger and didn’t hate it (in fact, I’m now a fan of carrot hummus), had a vegan orange and almond cake (self explanatory), kombucha with vodka and ginger (crazy, but yumm), gin and tonic with dill (also crazy, but even better) and just chilled on the grass, like hobos (which sounds fun in theory, but also made it obvious I’m not 21 anymore and my back feels broken now).

What have you guys planned for today? Want to see some cool blog posts you might have missed?

Like the discussion on Kelly’s blog about book ratings and whether two books from different genres can be compared at all. For me genre matters a lot. I like my crime thrillers as realistic as possible, while I expect sci-fi and dystopian stories to come up with some premise that is not something I’d encounter in my everyday life.

We bookworms might be perceived by our non-bookish peers as a bunch of lazy folks who do nothing but roll around in our bed and read, but they are wrong! Even if we don’t make it to the gym, or yoga class, or don’t hike miles and miles, we still have options! I personally prefer banded exercises while I’m reading (yes, doing glute bridges while reading looks a bit ridiculous, but who’s gonna judge me, my overweight cat?), and weight lifting when I’m not, you might find some other forms of exercises over at Book Beach Bunny that might fit your personal style more. I’m quite fond of the burpees, I must say.

I mercilessly DNF books I don’t like, because ain’t nobody got time for them (well, I certainly don’t), and don’t even feel half bad about it. There are just so many good books out there, that I would feel bad not reading those over something I don’t enjoy the slightest. Bookstooge listed quite a few reasons why he would drop a book. What do you think? Do you suffer through every book you pick up? Or do you move on?

Do you write negative reviews? Or are you focusing only positive things and leave the bad stuff behind? Whatever approach you choose, is your personal decision. Some people like filling their lives with positive things and don’t dwell on the negative, and some people are upset about this. Why? I have no idea. What anyone does or doesn’t do on their blog is up to them. I personally do write the occasional negative review, but quite often I would just drop a book I don’t like and then forget about it. Nandini is full of positivity and likes to focus on the good stuff. I applaud that. You do you, that’s what I always say!

Blurbs can be intriguing and make you pick up a book, but they can also be a minefield to navigate, or just simply a turn off. Zuky listed a few cliches that will make her avoid a book. For me what puts me off are spoilers in blurbs, like when they compare a book to another book and make something blatantly obvious, or phrases like “edge of the seat serial killer thriller“. I mean… are we serious here or just rhyming like Dr. Seuss? Have you ever got turned off by a blurb?

I’m a shameless book hoarder, and currently own around 300 books I have not read yet. *GASP* After reading Ova’s explanation of this phenomenon, I do feel better though. Also, books are cheaper than shoes. (Note to self: need new shoes too, damn it!)