June 26, 2018

Tell Me Something Tuesday: What Is Worse: Cliffhanger, Abrupt Ending or Open Ending?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.
Here is what is on deck this week:

WHAT IS WORSE: CLIFFHANGER, ABRUPT ENDING OR OPEN ENDING?

Abrupt endings for sure (though the only book with an abrupt ending I can recall reading is Remember Me 2: The Return by Christopher Pike). As I said in last week's TMST, I do believe that cliffhangers are poor storytelling, but it's not like they annoy me that much. Open endings I love, though I understand that they're not for everyone. Of course, they have to be done well...I feel strangely satisfied when an author doesn't wrap their story in your classic nice package. Maybe it's because I don't read romance, and this kind of ending is much more suitable for my favourite kind of books, like sci-fi or afterlife. Of course, not every book I read needs to have an open ending to be amazing LOL. Most of the times, I still get a sense of what's ahead, but at least it's not spelled out in big block letters...

Sorry for the nth Tennant/Who gif, but this one was too perfect to pass up LOL.

June 19, 2018

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Cliffhangers: Do They Compel You to Read More or Steer You Away?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.
Here is what is on deck this week:

CLIFFHANGERS: DO THEY COMPEL YOU TO READ MORE OR STEER YOU AWAY?

I've been trying to recall if any of the series installments I've read so far ended in a cliffhanger...and my mind drew a blank. Can I be so lucky? Because let's face it...regardless of how annoying or exciting you may find them, in this day and age, cliffhangers are an example of poor storytelling. I understand the need for an author to leave some loose threads to be picked up in the next installment of a series, but cliffhangers? seriously?

June 12, 2018

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Midyear Update: Favourite Reads, Goal Progress, Etc.

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.
Here is what is on deck this week:

MIDYEAR UPDATE: FAVOURITE READS, GOAL PROGRESS, ETC.

I've been doing yearly wrap-up posts since 2014 (when I was two years and three months into blogging), but I've never done a midyear update. I probably wouldn't bother if it weren't for TMST, but just because it never occurred to me before LOL. Now, this will be a simplified version of the yearly wrap-up I'm going to do on December. Let's cheer one another halfway through the race! 👏😉

Hey, I changed Doctor 😮. Welcome Eleven! 😉
Also, I think he's actually saying "hashtags" and something, but I went with the caption LOL.

June 06, 2018

The Craft of Reviewing: Or How I Amended My Evil Ways Over the Years 😀

Hello sweeties!

This post was inspired by an email conversation with a lovely soul who told me my reviews are art. I replied that I don't know if they are art, but they surely are craft. I usually sweat over them - even the ones that flow more easily are (almost) always the product of a couple of days' work, at least (only one day at the beginning, but then I became more self-conscious...or my reviews more complicated, which is the point I'm making with this post). And since I started blogging, the way I review has changed, if slightly. Of course, the voice is the same - but I've been adding or detracting things as I went on. Not that my way of reviewing was actually evil to begin with, of course 😀. That was just a clever (um?) and attractive (um?) title for a blog post. But I've made a lot of slight adjustments over these five years and a half, and today I want to share my journey with you. I hope you'll do the same 🙂.

Oops, I did it again. Enjoy your David 😁