Halfway Through: A Midyear Recap and a Few Shenanigans (2019 Edition)

Hello sweeties,

half a year has already gone by while we weren't looking. Well, when I wasn't, at least - but I bet you're a little shocked too 😲. Now, you know I've been doing a 12-months recap in December for a while now, but my first midyear one was in 2018, thanks to the Tell Me Something Tuesday meme. And while it was nowhere as accurate as my yearly ones, I enjoyed having the change of stopping to look back for a moment, regrouping, and starting my journey again. So, even without a TMST prompt, I decided to do it again this year, and maybe make it a regular feature of my blog. Here goes...

Tell Me Something Tuesday: How Do You Keep Going When Sometimes Blogging Feels Like Too Much?

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:

HOW DO YOU KEEP GOING WHEN SOMETIMES BLOGGING FEELS LIKE TOO MUCH?

Blogging is hard work, we all know that - even when we try not to let it go that route. Every one of us has goals, ambitious or not. Every one of us is afraid to let go and be forgotten. Even when we can't post often, we do our best to be consistent - to avoid long gaps between a post and the other, or longer gaps than usual. At the very least, blogging is an outlet, and we want it to be the best representation of ourselves and the things we like. That in itself requires a huge amount of time and energy, so that, when real life gets in the way...even a thing that we do out of love can become a burden.

Welcome to the Madness: Memoirs of an Italian Poll Clerk Pt.1

Hello sweeties,

I have a different kind of post for you today. As you may know if you read my post-hiatus article (or my tweets), I got summoned to poll duty for the European/municipal election combo on May 26th - which, incidentally, didn't go well 😬. I guess you know by know that the right wing (a particularly aggressive brand these days) raised its ugly head, even in my hometown 😭. Regardless, I thought I'd write a post about my poll-clerk experiences, in the hope that you might find it interesting - if mildly (?). I, for one, am curious how poll duty works in the other countries - so, if any of you knows about it firsthand, feel free to let me know in the comments!

A.S. King: "I Crawl Through It"

Title: I Crawl Through It [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: A.S. King [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist
Year: 2015
Age: 14+
Stars: 4.5/5
Pros: Bold and unique. Despite the experimental, surrealistic style, provides a compassionate - and deep down, passionate - look at the lives of its characters.
Cons: Not particularly accessible if you're looking for a straight-up story. The symbolism is not always clear.
WARNING! There's talk about rape, though it happened off-screen. Hints at mature themes like bondage and pedophilia.
Will appeal to: Those who enjoy experimental narrative with a heart.

Blurb: Four teenagers are on the verge of exploding. The anxieties they face at every turn have nearly pushed them to the point of surrender: senseless high-stakes testing, the lingering damage of past trauma, the buried grief and guilt of tragic loss. They are desperate to cope, but no one is listening. So they will lie. They will split in two. They will turn inside out. They will even build an invisible helicopter to fly themselves far away...but nothing releases the pressure. Because, as they discover, the only way to truly escape their world is to fly right into it. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: There's no denying that A.S. King is one of the most daring authors in the YA scene nowadays. You may not agree with everything she says, but she never fails to make a mark. Fair warning...her books are becoming more and more surrealistic. I'll admit not completely understanding this one, but that didn't prevent me from loving it. Here goes...

IN A HARSH LIGHT

ICTI is, first and foremost, a story about being teens in a world that at best doesn't care, turns its head the other way, or isn't equipped to help them (parents and teachers included), and at worst hurts them (sometimes unwittingly), damages them, or predates their feelings - and their bodies. OK...let's address the elephant in the room: this is not your average contemporary book - nor even your average magical-realistic book. But to me, the surrealism filter actually enhances the punch that these kids' stories pack, the same way as the short sentences this book is written in not only suit the narrative, but in this case, end up being more poignant and raw that any lyrical prose. (The book also includes several poems by the girl who swallowed herself, China, that fit the same bill). Of course, this is a love-it or hate-it style. However, you can't deny that ICTI is surrealistic in a way that's still able to root its characters and make them real. You can argue that you end up loving them more with your head than with your heart, so to speak (at least that's how I feel...more or less - though China almost made me cry the first time I read the book), but it doesn't mean that they don't leave a mark, and you can still feel the author's genuine compassion for them and share it. And if you're an adult who still retains some decency, maybe hung your head in shame, because you ARE a big part of the problem just by pretending not to see.

Tooting Your Trumpet #1

Hello sweeties! and welcome to my new post series, in which, once a month, I intend to share a few articles/sites that piqued my interest. I know that most of you are doing it already in The Sunday Post, but since I don't participate in the meme, I thought I'd create my very own. So here goes the first installment of...

Some people toot their own trumpet. I mean to toot yours. On the first Sunday of every month, I'm sharing your posts, your sites, anything interesting I stumble upon during my internet vagrancies. This month on TYT...

• PROJECT CANVAS (a collaborative book that my blogging friend Hannah wrote a piece for)
• WORDY AND WHIMSICAL (new blog!)
• THE MEMORY OF RAIN (a blog you might not be familiar with yet...)
• DOES READING YA MAKE YOU A BETTER/MORE EMPATHETIC PARENT? (a discussion post on Karen's blog For What It's Worth)

Please note: all the graphics featured in these posts are property of the blog/site owners, and are only used in association with their blog/site links.