The Goodreads Reading Challenge

What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

HARRY, DID YOU PUT YOUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE?!?!

These are some of the greatest questions literature has posed it’s readers for the past century, and yet perhaps none has perplexed us quite as much as that which we are all faced with at the start of every year:

How many books should I read for the Goodreads Reading Challenge?

It’s not something one can simply decide on a whim; great thought and planning must go into making such an important decision. So exactly how does one decide?

Last year I took a rather objectionable approach, setting my reading challenge at a grand total of 1. The thinking behind it was simple: I was not feeling particularly literary, and I didn’t want to reach the end of the year having failed, instead every book read past that first one was an added bonus. On the one hand it worked; I read more than one book and didn’t feel like a failure come December 31st. However I look back now and wonder if I would’ve read more with that threat of failure looming over me.

We can spend all day surmising over whether that is necessarily a good thing* but for now I will instead propose to you three ways to approach this most important of questions.

1. It’s not a race, but if you must, race yourself
I made the monumental mistake yesterday of scrolling through my Goodreads feed at everyone else’s challenges. DON’T DO THIS. This is a challenge for YOU. Who cares what Joe Bloggs down the road is doing? However, if that competitive spirit is eating away at you, why not challenge yourself, or more specifically, your past self. If you read 50 books last year, this year try 65. If you read 100, try 125. Have a health competition against yourself.

2. Start small and work your way up to it.
Life is unpredictable, you never know what’s around the next corner. So why not start off the year with a low target, and see how it goes. You might get to August having already surpassed it, in which case you’ll already feel like you’ve won, and you can just up it again, knowing full way you’ve already achieved what January-you thought you might achieve in the whole year. Equally, you might get to August and be halfway through, in which case, you’re on schedule, you’ll get that email from Goodreads saying you’re doing great, keep on going, and you’ll feel fab!

3. Go big or go home.
I think you have to be a certain kind of person to do this one, but maybe that person is you! Why not set a target that seems almost impossible? That way you’ll either really go for it and win, and, look at that, you managed to read a crazy number of books! Or, you’ll really push yourself, not reach your target because, let’s face it, that was a crazy number, but in the process you’ll still have read a hell of a lot of books just trying to get there!

Whatever you decide to do, remember one thing: this is all about the joy of reading. It’s not about beating other people or forcing yourself to read when you don’t want to, it’s about spending time doing something you love. Remember that.

 

 

 

*Do we really need to be putting ourselves under pressure to read? Isn’t it just adding a level of negativity to our lives that we don’t need?

January 2, 2018September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, DiscussionTags: book, books, goodreads, goodreads reading challenge, literature, reading, somethinglikelydia Leave a comment

What I’ve learnt from a year without books

Back in March, when I declared this blog on hiatus, I ended with a quote from the fabulously outrageous, Oscar Wilde, who once said:

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

At the time, I quoted this because somewhere along the way I felt like I had stopped reading what I wanted to read, and instead was reading what I felt I should read. I loved blogging and being part of the blogging community, but I felt that if I didn’t read the new releases, and keep up with what everyone else was reading, that I’d somehow fall out of that circle.

Now, however, that quote has a whole new meaning for me, because over the past year, during the moments when I would’ve previously been forcing myself through a book I knew wasn’t my cup of tea, I’ve found myself with the desire to read things I never thought I’d want to read.

Most notably, non-fiction, I used to never read non-fiction, it just didn’t interest me; why read something about this world, when this world is a total mess?!

But whilst not reading this year, I’ve discovered a whole new desire for knowledge. I’m 28, I’ve been out of mainstream education for nearly six years, and yet I’ve never been more desperate to learn. Learn about the world beyond what the news tells us. Learn about how people live, and how people have lived, in places I can’t even point to on a map.

We live in a time when our world is closer than ever, yet sometimes it feels like we’ve never been farther apart. How did we get here? And where do we go next? I want to know these things and it was only in not spending my time reading the books I thought I was supposed to read, that I discovered this new found yearning to learn.

*

I’ve also realised something else, something which makes me sad, but also excited at the same time.

I think, maybe, I’m growing out of YA. Actually, “growing out of” is the wrong phrase, maybe “growing into” other genres is a better way of putting it, because I still love the variety and nuance of YA, I still believe it’s the most unpredictable genre out there, and that other genres need to embrace that if they’re going to keep up with the seemingly boundless imaginations of YA authors, but I also find myself wanting to read about people my age.

I came to YA late, I was in my early-20s before the genre really became the behemoth we’re now used to, but I embraced it because I’d never had those stories when I was in my teens, and had always yearned for them. I clung on to that, perhaps for too long, because I was struggling with my own stuff, and didn’t feel ready to let go of the child in me. Now, though, I need stories that someone closer to 30 can resonate with, and whilst I will inevitably still dip in and out of YA, I want to find out what else is out there.

*

So what does this mean for this blog?

Essentially, nothing. It’s still going to be here, and yes, I’m actually going to be writing it again, because that desire has come back as well, but it’s going to be different. It’s probably going to be more varied in content; it’ll still be primarily book-related, but I often find myself wanting to talk about other stuff as well – the real life stuff that isn’t always pretty – so expect some of that from time to time. Most of all, I want to write stuff that I would want to read; I’m tired of writing pieces that have no heart, that feel like anyone could’ve written them. We all have our own voice, and I think I finally understand where mine is coming through, so I’m going to embrace it.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

December 31, 2017September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Discussion, Genre: Non-Fiction, Genre: YA, hiatus, UncategorizedTags: 2018, authors, book, books, hiatus over, literature, non fiction, read, reading, writing, ya, young adult Leave a comment

Literary Disappointments

Is there anything worse for a bookworm than a disappointing book?

Whether it’s a book that doesn’t go anywhere; a book that starts off well only to fall apart later; or a book that was simply over-hyped, however they disappoint, it can be really frustrating realising you’ve wasted precious hours of your life on a story that failed to inspire you.

So, with that in mind, here are a selection of books that disappointed me, that you might want to think twice about reading in the future.

Beware, I’m about to get controversial in 3…2…1…

Why not throw myself right into the lion’s den with this, my first choice:
The Selection by Kiera Cass.

I read this book solely because of the hype surrounding it, only picking it up last summer because by that point the series had reached it’s fifth book, and so there had to be something worth reading there, right?

Well, it’s fair to say, I really didn’t get the hype.

It’s essentially a royal version of The Bachelor*, set in a dystopian America.

I can understand why some readers might love it, and perhaps if I had been 10/ 15 years younger I might’ve loved it too, but as it is, I just don’t think it was meant for me.

I found it too fluffy, even though it was clearly trying to be something more than that, instead of just accepting it’s fluffiness, which might have made it less annoying.

It was over-long; the fact that there are four more books to this story completely confounds me, because this story could, and probably should, have been wrapped up in one.

And finally, it has one of the most frustrating lead protagonists I’ve ever encountered, who really needs to talk to a therapist about her self-esteem issues (and that’s coming from someone who talks to a therapist about her self-esteem issues).

*

Next up, possibly the most over-hyped book in recent years:
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

For about a year prior to release, this book was being proclaimed by publishers and ARC reviewers alike, that it was going to be the next big thing, and perhaps that was why I was disappointed, because it needed to be pretty amazing to live up to expectations, and, put simply, it wasn’t.

The general basis for the story is a world where people are divided into Silvers: rich; magical; upper-class, and Reds: poor; powerless; lower-class, until Mare, a Red discovers she has the powers of a Silver, thus throwing the entire system into disarray.

Nothing about this book is original. In fact, it feels like a cheap knock-off of every dystopian fantasy from the past ten years.

As a result, the story is entirely predictable. There is just nothing new to get excited about, because, well, you’ve read it all before!

*

Next up we have a book that was not only disappointing, but also problematic:
Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

I’ve written about this one before, so I’ll try and keep it brief**, but this book frustrated me, and, quite frankly, angered me, on so many levels.

This is a story about a girl once named “America’s Fattest Teen”, and a boy with Prosopagnosia, which means he can’t remember people’s faces, so he literally couldn’t pick his own family out of a line-up.

The trouble is, it’s essentially a love story, and that’s where the problems start, because here you have a boy who basically becomes obsessed with a girl solely because she’s the only person he can recognise due to the fact that she’s fat.

If that wasn’t problematic enough, at one point he literally physically assaults her in the middle of the school cafeteria.

I couldn’t get past that, because there’s no real apology; he has some pathetic excuse for doing it, but it’s just that, pathetic.

After that, their whole relationship is pretty much entirely based on the fact that she’s the only one he can recognise, and I just kept wanting her to wake up and realise that she deserved so much better.

I was disappointed, but I was also angry, because I know there will be teens out there, who struggle with their weight like I did, who will read this book and think that’s all their worth.

It’s not.

They’re worth so much more.

*

Last, but by no means any less disappointing:
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I kept hearing about this, and kept hearing about this, and then in the lead up to the publication of the second book in the series, I kept hearing about this so much that I finally read it, and, well, I really do not get why I kept hearing about this!

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Cassie is trying to save her little brother from the very aliens who have destroyed their world.

This book actually starts off quite well, which I think is why it was ultimately such a disappointment.

I was hooked; for the first third of the book it was enjoyable, not exactly great literature, but it was a good, fun, post-apocalyptic thriller.

Then, however, our lead character, who up until this point has been really focused and determined on saving her younger brother, suddenly meets a guy she likes, and she goes from being a pretty ruthless badass warrior woman, doing everything she can to survive the end of the world, to a character from a high school movie that most definitely didn’t pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test.

Of course, when you realise it was written by a middle-aged man, it suddenly makes a lot more sense, because it soon becomes very clear Rick Yancey has no idea how a teenage girl thinks. I’m pretty sure, if the world was ending, even the most lovesick, naive, teenager would be more concerned with saving her younger brother from an alien race, than some pretty guy she just happened to bump into in a shack in the woods!

From this moment on, the book fell apart: reading these characters was like watching humans devolve into cavemen, as they pranced around lamely in a plot filled with more holes than Swiss cheese.

* * * * *

*If you want a less fluffy, albeit still problematic, but more adult version of this storyline, I recommend checking out UnReal Season 1, which is almost exactly this, but with murder, alcohol, and extreme bitching.

**I failed.

January 20, 2017September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Discussion, Genre: YATags: book, book blogger, book bloggers, book review, bookblogger, bookbloggers, books, fiction, holding up the universe, literature, reading, red queen, the 5th wave, the selection, ya, young adult Leave a comment

You Will Not Have My Hate

There’s a lot of hate in the world right now; anger seems to fuel the news on a daily basis, and where once the world seemed to be growing closer, now, the divide feels stronger than ever before. At times likes this, it’s difficult to remember that hate only fuels hate, yet, last year, one man with more reason to hate than most, reminded us just why we shouldn’t.

There are only two of us – my son and myself – but we are stronger than all the armies of the world.

On November 13th 2015, Helene Muyal-Leiris attended a concert at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, France, along with 1500 people. By the end of the night, 89 of those people were dead, Helene included, along with 41 others killed at other attacks across the city, in what was the deadliest attack on France since World War II.

Three days later, Helene’s husband, Antoine, wrote an open letter to his wife’s attacker in which he wrote, ‘You stole the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hate.’ That letter has since been shared over two hundred thousand times, and produced the title of his short memoir, detailing the days following the attack as he and his seventeen-month-old son, Melvil, tried to come to terms with their loss.

You Will Not Have My Hate is a heartbreaking read, but one which should be required reading for all of us, at a time when it’s difficult not to feel anger towards those who try to hurt us. As a result of the world we now live in, too many of us now know what it’s like to worry about whether a loved one is safe, those horrible moments of not knowing, the waiting that feels like it stretches on for years.

‘Waiting is a feeling without a name.’

It’s impossible to understand what it’s like when that waiting ends in bad news, yet Leiris’ writing opens a window into that horrific time, and allows us in. At times, it feels as if we are intruding on something we shouldn’t be allowed to see; moments which should remain private to only Antoine and his family, but in opening up about these moments, he teaches us that empathy comes not in anger at those who hurt others, but in being there for those who are hurt.

5/5

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

November 21, 2016September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Genre: Non-Fiction, ReviewTags: antoine leiris, book, book blogger, book bloggers, book review, bookblogger, bookbloggers, books, france, literature, paris, reading, you will not have my hate Leave a comment

Love in Wonderland

“It is a dangerous thing to unbelieve something only because it frightens you.”

I must admit, I’m not a big fan of retellings and origin stories, especially when the author differs from the original storyteller. So when I heard that Marissa Meyer was taking on Wonderland, one of the most beautifully crafted fantasy worlds ever created, I was worried.

I needn’t have been.

Heartless is the story of Catherine, a young woman with her heart set on opening a new bakery with her best friend. Unfortunately for her, she’s also caught the eye of the King of Hearts, and there’s no way the Queen of Hearts is going to be opening a bakery any time soon. Luckily for her, however, Catherine’s world is about to be thrown upside-down when a new Jester arrives at court.

For a book called Heartless, this story couldn’t have more heart. The characters are fun, and intriguing, and the plot is unpredictable and twists and turns endlessly.

It seems unbelievably that anyone could come close to matching the whimsical quirks that make up Carroll’s original Wonderland, but it’s immediately clear from the first page that Marissa Meyer herself has a love for the work, and is determined to replicate the light-hearted feeling that made Wonderland what it is. It’s fair to say she was successful.

‘The music that followed was it’s own sort of magic. The lilts and the skips, the dancing notes…the bluebells stopped ringing so they could listen, the breeze stopped whistling, the finches stopped chittering.’

The characters we know and love from the original, are all here, and they are just as you imagined them; she has really encapsulated the voices of each of them perfectly, and it is very easy to forget you’re not reading a story written by Lewis Carroll himself.

4/5

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

November 15, 2016September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Genre: Fantasy, Genre: YA, ReviewTags: alice in wonderland, book, book blogger, book bloggers, bookblogger, bookbloggers, books, fantasy, heartless, lewis carroll, literature, mad hatter, marissa meyer, reading, through the looking glass, wonderland, ya, young adult Leave a comment

10 Books I Read from Recommendation

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned how important I think it is for you to read books you’re recommend. There’s something very personal about feeling the need to recommend a book to someone, and reading that book can tell you as much about the person who recommended it to you, as it will about the person who wrote it. So without further ado, here are ten books I have been recommended.

The Shock of the Fall
Nathan Filer

I went into this yesterday so I won’t go in to it again, but needless to say I was recommended this by a friend, after they said it was a very personal read for them, and it turned out to be so for me as well. A wonderfully touching book dealing with Depression and PTSD.

The Queen of the Tearling
Erika Johansen

I was recommended this book by the BookTube community at large, when it was first released, and, although it’s not as popular amongst that community as I think it deserves, I have loved it ever since. I am actually re-reading it right now in preparation for the final book in the trilogy, The Fate of the Tearling, which is released soon, and am being reminded once again what a wonderful first book in a series this is. A fantastical gritty YA fantasy crossover.

The Sin Eater’s Daughter
Melinda Salisbury

Yet another BookTube recommendation, this time from Elizabeth @ The Owlery, who went on and on about this book enough times for me to finally grab it. I’m so glad she did, because it’s such a fantastical story, really surprised me, and excellent world-building. Plus, Mel is just the loveliest person, so that’s always a bonus!

Radio Silence
Alice Oseman

This was a recommendation I picked up last year during a few #UKYAChat discussions on Twitter. Everyone kept mentioning what a wonderful book this was, but it took me until this year to get around to it, and I wish I had done so sooner, because I loved it so much. I always recommend it to anyone who’s currently in school and/or applying for university, because I wish I had had the advice this book gives out, given to me when I was that age. Such an enjoyable read about a podcast loving nerd.

Finding Audrey
Sophie Kinsella

Yet another one I mentioned yesterday, but I was recommended this by HelloIAmMariam over on Twitter, while looking for books about Anxiety, and, as I mentioned yesterday, this book honestly helped my own recovery so much. Fantastically hilarious, but moving, read.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Laini Taylor

I was both recommended, and won copies of this, from Mikayla @ Mikayla’s Bookshelf, who couldn’t stop going on about it, to the point she gave away the whole series to celebrate it. I’m so grateful because I fell in love with this book from the word go. It’s such a beautifully written crossover fantasy, that felt like a real old school fantasy story. I’ve yet to read the next two, but they are right up at the top of my TBR, because I loved this one so much!

House of LeavesMark Z. Danielewski

This book was originally recommended by Goodreads, so I got it, and then forgot I had it, until Dawn Kurtagich mentioned it at YALC, and now I’ve just started reading it. It’s meant to be terrifying, so that’s rather worrying, but it’s already really unsettling and intriguing and I love this style of document-style books, like S. and The Dead House, so I’m so excited for this one. Yes, I know, I haven’t read it yet, but it’s so unique I have to mention it.

A Darker Shade of Magic
V. E. Schwab

Was recommended this by everyone, basically, because it was all anyone could talk about, when it came out, but I was travelling so I didn’t read it till a month or so later, and then fell in love with it. Lila is my favourite character from any book in a long while, she’s so spirited, I love her. Once again, like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, this just felt like a real old school fantasy tale, fantastic world building, and dynamic characters.

Ready Player One
Ernest Cline

I have such a love/hate relationship with this book. It’s such a great idea, and I, in general, love the way it turned out, but I hated the ending with a passion, and it is problematic with regards to race, so that’s definitely an issue as well. I guess I just loved the concept of it though, and regardless of issues, the world-building was well done. The film will be interesting, although I do hope they change the problematic parts.

Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo

Okay, so I had issues with this book, as well, but in general I really enjoyed reading it. And, like others on this list, the world building was fabulous, I fell into it immediately, and I’m so glad she’s gone on to write other stories in the Grishaverse. My main issues were with Alina’s relationship with The Darkling, which felt too cliche, but that aside, as I said, I did just really enjoy reading this series. I devoured it in a week.

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Top Ten Tuesday is organised by The Broke and the Bookish, and is a weekly discussion involving the entire BookTube/Blogging community.

October 11, 2016September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Discussion, Top Ten TuesdayTags: A Darker Shade of Magic, alice oseman, book, book blogger, book bloggers, bookblogger, bookbloggers, books, daughter of smoke and bone, erika johansen, ernest cline, finding audrey, house of leaves, laini taylor, leigh bardugo, literature, mark z. danielewski, melinda salisbury, nathan filer, radio silence, reading, ready player one, shadow and bone, sophie kinsella, the queen of the tearling, the shock of the fall, the sin eaters daughter, ve schwab, victoria schwab Leave a comment

Jodi Picoult’s greatest book so far.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the representation of people of colour within the publishing industry. In both areas, those being published and those doing the publishing, PoC are shockingly unrepresented, and with ignorant and misleading comments repeatedly being made by those higher up in the industry (and in other industries), it is a risky move right now to be releasing a book broaching the topic of racism, if you’re white.

Yet, that’s the move Jodi Picoult has found herself in, with her latest novel, Small Great Things.

Ruth has been a midwife for years. She is brilliant at her job, and prides herself on understanding the needs of every mother-t0-be who steps onto the ward. That is until a couple request she is taken off their case, for no other reason than the colour of her skin. But when Ruth discovers their newborn son is struggling to breathe, she must decide to help him herself and go against their wishes, or find help elsewhere, and risk not finding anyone in time to save him.

Told from multiple points-of-view, Small Great Things is a truly moving, and at times, disturbing, examination of race relations in America. Picoult cleverly retells various moments in the story from differing perspectives, to try and force the reader to understand all sides.

It is wonderfully written, even if it is still very difficult to even begin to understand a Neo-Nazi’s motivations, (or, from a British POV, how it’s even legal for them to hold rallies and protests!).

Ruth’s gradual realisation of how much ingrained racism still exists in modern day USA is conveyed very cleverly, and helps not only open her eyes to it, but also the reader’s.

“It is amazing how you can look in a mirror your whole life and think you are seeing yourself clearly. And then one day, you peel off a filmy gray layer of hypocrisy, and you realize you’ve never truly seen yourself at all.

I still question whether it is right for a white author to be broaching this topic, when there are many authors of colour who could bring a more personal approach to it, and who rarely get the opportunity to have their own voices heard, and I would’ve liked more perspectives from the other African American characters, because there were a few too many white characters given a voice over theirs, in my opinion.

Overall though, I will say that Jodi Picoult has produced a very interesting book, that exceeds the expectations I had, and which is probably one of the most well-written books of her career so far.

3.5/5

Small Great Things is published November 22nd

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

October 2, 2016September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Genre: ContemporaryTags: book, bookblogger, bookbloggers, books, contemporary fiction, fiction, jodi picoult, literature, ownvoices, race relations, racism, reading, small great things Leave a comment

Hey, look! ANOTHER YALC round-up!

It’s been five days since YALC ended, meaning that by this point you are probably aware of the exact number of times the words ‘Harry Potter’ were spoken during those few days, and just how many people were lost in the epic queue for Maggie Steifvater’s signing session. With that in my mind, therefore, I will attempt to find at least one thing you aren’t yet aware of, and bring to you

An Anxiety-suffering, Ginger Hobbit’s point of view, of the Young Adult Lit Convention 2016.

So, I’m not going lie, I was pretty terrified about attending YALC this year. If you’d seen me on Friday morning, you’d probably have thought I was about to face-off against an Hungarian Horntail, based on my ghostly pallor and fidgeting fingers,

but thankfully, the most dangerous thing you’ll bump into at YALC is a multi-tote wielding bookworm.

Because if there’s one thing YALC knows how to do well, it’s SWAG!!!

(This was just from Day #1!)

I have never been given so much free stuff than I was this weekend at YALC. Look at it in all it’s awesomely pretty bookishness! I now have enough tote bags, postcards, bookmarks, and badges to last me a lifetime (or until YALC 2017).

But of course, as wonderful as it is to be given badges that you don’t really know quite what to do with (because what exactly is the function of a badge?) YALC is all about amazing authors talking about writing so much that even if you never wanted to be a writer beforehand, after a weekend of having inspiration thrown at you from every which way, you’ll find you’ve planned out a seven-part series in your head, complete with fictional language and caste system.

The panels really were incredibly interesting. Some definite highlights for me were:

• The Morally Complicated YA panel, with Manuela Salvi, Emerald Fennel, Louise O’Neill and Melvin Burgess, which discussed the banning of books, using stories set in dystopia to hold a mirror up to our own world, and how life isn’t considered controversial, but writing about life is.
• The Fantasy London panel, with Samantha Shannon, Ben Aaronovitch, and Victoria Schwab, talking about how a city like London, steeped in such history, is the perfect backdrop for an alternative reality story. (Also, was really excited to hear Samantha talking about how The Bone Season series is going to look at dystopia on a global scale, something that hasn’t really been explored before).
• The Horror Inspirations panel, with Dawn Kurtagich, Darren Shan, Derek Landy, and Alex Scarrow, which was incredibly fascinating, because it was so interesting to hear about how each author had come to write the styles of horror they do, and the monsters they do, as a result of books and films they grew up on, (chiefly, Stephen King novels, and Carpenter films).

I really felt that by the end of the weekend every area of publishing a book, from the inspiration, right through to the release date, had been discussed, and it was great to get such an overview of the process from a creative point-of-view.

One thing I’d definitely love to see a panel on next year though would be Cover Design, with some of the artists who are designing such wonderful covers for YA right now. Such unappreciated geniuses!

Obviously, one cannot attend a book convention without buying a few books, but aside from the few that I bought in order to get signed (having previously read them as NetGalley ARCs or Kindle E-Books), I forbade myself from buying any that I could buy elsewhere (thankfully, because if I bought one single book more, I wouldn’t have had enough room in my suitcase to take them home)! However, I did pick up a few from a smaller publisher I had never heard of before, Hope Road Publishing, which I will definitely be on the look out for more in the future.

As a keen reader and blogger, I’m so aware of the lack of diversity in publishing, in both the UK and worldwide, so it was great to see Hope Road at YALC, which is a publishers devoted to supporting authors of African, Asian and Caribbean descent. They had such an eclectic selection of books on display at their stand, I could’ve quite literally bought them all, but I restricted myself to You’re Not Proper by Tariq Mehmood, Dew Angels by Melanie Schwapp, and Black Taj by Mohini Kent.

     

All three sound like really great stories, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out on what else Hope Road publish in the future.

(If you’ve got any tips for other publishers which support diversity in reading, please let me know in the comments, or over on my Twitter.)

So that was a brief snapshot of my weekend at YALC. I’m hoping to do a full book haul over on my BookTube channel in the next few weeks, and I promise to get back into blogging here more frequently again, something which has suffered lately as a result of life stuff.

If you went to YALC this year, what were your favourite moments? And, if you didn’t, will I see you there next year? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

August 5, 2016September 1, 2019 by somethinglikelydia Categories: books, Discussion, Genre: YA, YALCTags: book, book bloggers, bookbloggers, books, literature, somethinglikelydia, ya, YALC, young adult Leave a comment