Sunday 6 March 2016

Flights of Fantasy 2016

http://www.alexalovesbooks.com/2015/12/flights-of-fantasy-reading-challenge.html

Flights of Fantasy 2016 is hosted by Alexa and Rachel and I'm so happy to participate again this year. I participated last year and I'm participating again this year (this post was written in January, but never posted hence why it's so late). 

Number of Fantasies:
I'm going for a total of 22 fantasy books this year. I've listed below all the books/series I would like to read but we'll see how that goes! As long as I can read at least 20 fantasy books, I'll be happy!

Fantasy Standalones/First book in series:
  • Soundless
  • Truthwitch 
  • Seraphina 
  • Uprooted
  • Frostfire
  • The Queen of the Tearling
  • Ruin and Rising (I've read the first two in this series already)
  • Glass Sword (adding this here as I've read Red Queen already!)
Fantasy Series to Read:
  • A Darker Shade of Magic
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses
  • Snow Like Ashes 
  • The Winner's Curse
  • Six of Crows
  • The Kiss of Deception
How many I've read so far:
  • Shadow and Bone
  • Siege and Storm
For some reason, I feel like I've read more than I thought but that could be because I have The Kiss of Deception and Ruin and Rising that I'm reading at the moment!

Kindle vs Books: The Great Debate



About two years ago, I wrote a post on e-readers vs physical books. I looked at the pros and cons of both but didn't actually own an e-reader myself (we have a family one, but I wasn't allowed to buy things on it at the time!). I received a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas 2015, and safe to say, I'm very happy with it. Although I haven't used it much since receiving it (I'm trying to half my physical TBR), it really is so handy. 

So what do I think of e-readers now that I have one myself? 
Well, I've found mine to be extremely handy. They're small, compact, can fit hundreds of books on them (although my Kindle library is at roughly 10-15 so far) and with mine, I can read well into the night with it. One thing I really like is how much shelf space I save as although I love having my pretty books on my shelves, I recently ran out of space and my books started stacking up on the floor until I thankfully bought a new shelf, but that's almost full and although I do have extra space on my old shelves, I know I'll fill that up in no time, so therefore, my Kindle is ideal.

What I've found out when I read my Kindle books, is that I read them at a much faster rate than physical books. I'm not entirely sure why, I wonder if it's because I can see how long it would take me to read a book at the bottom and that spurs me on, but I've definitely found that I read books a lot quicker on my Kindle!

Having a Kindle, for me, is a perfect solution to my almost overflowing shelves. I'm actually planning to take it to America with me in the Summer as 1) many books for the flight and 2) more luggage space to bring those nice US edition books back with me! I best get looking for some extra shelf space in my room!


Do I prefer to read one over the other?
Not at all. I love physical books in my hand more than my Kindle, but I love how my Kindle tells me exactly how long it would take me to complete a book, which a physical book can't do. There are pro's and con's to each of them, but ultimately as long as I'm reading something, I don't mind the format. Although, I do love the pretty covers on physical books!


Would I recommend getting an e-reader?
I most definitely would. Although I don't use mine a massive amount as I'm trying to whittle down my physical TBR, an e-reader is just so convenient and takes up so much less bag and shelf space. Like I said, there are pro's and con's to each, but I feel like a Kindle is definitely worth the investment. I know that just because I have a Kindle, it doesn't mean I will stop buying physical books. In fact, I buy a lot of my books from Amazon anyway, and a lot of them are from Independent Sellers on there, and if a physical book is cheaper from an independent seller in comparison to Kindle, then you can betcha I'll be buying the physical copy!


So there you have it, that's my opinion on the great e-reader vs physical books debate now that I finally have my own!

Thursday 3 March 2016

Hello, it's me..

You would be very correct if you're thinking that I am the worst blogger ever because I totally am. I haven't blogged anything since the very beginning of July last year, and we are now in March, closer to July 2016 than July 2015 so let's just hold up here a sec. 

So where have I been and what have I been up to, I hear you ask?

WELL, let me do a little bit of a recap for you, but please bear in mind I may miss a few things out! (I'm really sorry this is such a text heavy post!)

JULY
In July I spent a week away in Portugal with my family and boyfriend and had the best time! It was so nice to go on holiday with my family again and to have my boyfriend there was even better! Although, I got extremely sunburnt the day before we went to the waterpark (bad idea) in my effort to get a tan, except I'm stupid and forgot to put suncream on after I got out of the sea. Perk to this was that I still have a tan line from July and it is now March! I also celebrated my birthday the day after we got back, so wahoo for that. Other than that I just worked and worked and that was it!

AUGUST
I literally did nothing this month apart from worked. I was working two jobs over the Summer which is good money wise but also sucked because I had 4 months off and I basically spent like 3 weeks of it not working and the rest working so there's that!

SEPTEMBER
I finished my temporary summer job but was still working quite a bit except more time off in the week, yay! It was also freshers week (where me and my boyfriend broke up, which sucked a ton) and then I started second year of uni, how fun. So yeah, this month sorta sucked tbh.

OCTOBER
I went out(nights outs) a ton in October. There was a paint party which was so fun, and a few other things like a friends birthday, but other than that it was just uni and work. My life is so boring.

NOVEMBER
Once again, uni and work, uni and work. I had a few nights out but not loads, and I went up some hills that are close to where I live but it was absolutely freezing and I only went up the top of the one that I parked by. If it was warmer and less windy, I would've gone up much further. I started a temporary job this month for over Christmas so again I was working two jobs but I also had uni work (silly me) but it was ok..

DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS! Oh I love Christmas and this year we spent it with my whole family so that was fabby. I also had a Kindle for Christmas(!!!!) and read The Awakened and blasted through it and finished it that day (bit anti-social as I was sat in the chair in the corner of my grandparents living room just reading, but my cousins are all 8 and below and I am 20, so no thank you). Also this month was obvs New Years and I spent it with my one friend and it was such a hilarious night! Other than that I just worked two jobs still, finished Uni for Christmas, and then Boxing Day I finished my one job and just carried on with my temp one!

JANUARY 2016
Wow, I missed a lot of months on here.. So January I started back at uni to finish Semester 1 but was at Uni for two weeks before we broke up for January exams and marking week which is totally pointless because two weeks of uni and then two weeks off, but I'm not complaining. I didn't really do much other than work and uni again(I am seriously so boring) but I did celebrate one of my friends birthdays, yay! Also, we booked to go away to New York this Summer, so America, I'm coming for ya! I've also applied to be a co-blogger over at another blog so if I'm accepted, I'll be moving!

FEBRUARY
We are almost there! This month I celebrated two of my friends 21st birthday, started semester 2 at uni, had an interview for another job that is opposite the one I'm working in (it's a department store and I'm moving from one concession to another..) and also, me and my ex-boyfriend got back together at the end of this month, yay! We also went on a trip to a forest and he helped me take some bookish pictures so that was good! So this month again, was uni and work but also a lot more fun with good things happening!

MARCH
We are up to date, FINALLY! So it's day 3 of this month but I can tell you what is coming up. I finish my job on one department and move to another on the 14th, I have a date night with my boyfriend coming up, I need to start working on my Uni project that I'm doing. Other than that, not a lot is happening. I have an assignment due for the 17th, but that's not so bad although I want to get started early so that I can have plenty of time on it as I had an essay due on the 29th Feb and I literally finished it at 11:30am that day so yeah, not a good move! This month, I've been thinking of moving over to wordpress (I'm waiting to see if I'm a co-blogger but if not, I'll make the move). Do any of you use wordpress?



I hope you guys have had a good couple of months since we last spoke! I'm sorry for being so absent but since July I have been so busy with work and uni and uni work and everything else that's been happening! But finally I have time to breathe and write and read and all that sort of good stuff. I actually post pretty regularly over on my instagram (@gingerbreadbooks) so you should definitely check that out! 

Hope to be writing again soon!

Vick :)