Sunday Coffee & Blog Hop #7

Howdy!

I’m delighted to say, I survived my stay at the ominous murder castle. Although the pedicure and foot treatment was borderline criminal, the whole experience was pretty amazing. Ashdown Park Country Club is in the middle of a forest, so it was incredibly peaceful and quiet.

Probably the biggest disturbance in the whole mansion was me trying the get into our room after half a bottle of champagne and a gin&tonic, and getting defeated by the door. Enough said!

I don’t how many of you guys have watched You Rang M’lord?, one of my favourite TV series of all times, but the whole atmosphere reminded me of it. I shit you not, they must have had someone ironing The Times here as well, because it was crispy as fuck.

All in all, it was a fun weekend, and we are planning to do something similar again in the near future.

I’m back home now though, in the nice and warm, and have some fun posts you may have missed.

I know, members of the book police love to tell people what they can and can’t read, but it doesn’t mean we have to listen to them. Kat over at Novels and Waffles loves reading YA books, even though she’s in her mid 20’s. * gasp * We have a true rebel here, ladies and gents! I say, you go, Kat!

I do enjoy the occasional contemporary story, but have lately neglected this genre so much, I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. Malanie’s here to the rescue though, and her beginner’s guide to contemporary fiction has some really intriguing stuff for all kinds of readers.

If it’s sci-fi inspiration you are looking for, Imyril has 10 great books to get you started with.

Depending on where you live, winter can be cold and miserable. While I prefer just going with the flow and read dark and gritty stuff during this season, you might fancy some more cheerful and fluffy books. Fear not, because Sophie’s got you covered with a list of cheery books, that will hopefully make you all fuzzy and warm, at least on the inside.

After making your way through all those lovely recommendations, of course your will need to track your books somewhere. Kaleena, Queen of Spreadsheets, is a true mastermind when it comes to handy tools for bookworms. Have you downloaded your copy of her amazing blogger spreadsheet template yet?

I must admit, I sometimes feel myself like a damsel in distress. All I want is for someone to swoop in and save me. Nothing wrong with that, we all need a little bit of help sometimes. When it comes to fictional women though, they are often only one thing and nothing else. Marta at The Cursed Books listed a few tropes some of these ladies fall into, and they are nothing short of sexist. Tropes exist for a reason. They portray certain type of people, but when the only people that exist in stories are just the embodiment of a cliche or trope, some authenticity is definitely lost there.

Blogging is fun, but can become overwhelming for some of us. Drew’s 15 tips for bloggers is a nice reminder for all of us that we should just enjoy ourselves. If we can’t even enjoy our hobbies, what’s the point?

What were you up to this weekend?