WHAT IS INSTA-POETRY?

What is ‘insta-poetry’? It’s more than simply posting a poem on Instagram. There’s a certain power in sharing any form of art online, where it can be accessed by anyone, shared by anyone, and commented on by anyone. The Instagram scroll also means that a few seconds is often all that your post can expect to pull from someone.

I’ve been able to ask my questions about Insta-poetry to some poets currently sharing their work on Instagram. In this post, they share what Insta-poetry means to them, the importance of online community, and the Instagram-poetry style.

HELLO TWENTY EIGHTEEN | CHALLENGES AND BLOGGING PLANS

It takes me a week to properly think about my New Year’s resolutions, or challenges (I don’t do resolutions – they’re too resolute and solid and therefore impossible!).  It takes me a few days to feel the year out, I think. The first week of the new year hasn’t been anything particularly spectacular or different. Other than a step-up in my dissertation research, and more exams and study, the first half of my 2018 looks like it’s going to be much like 2017 in it’s day-to-day-ness. (And then we don’t think about the after-graduation half). When I make goals before the new year has even begun, I run the risk of creating a list of goals that don’t fit into my year. ‘Write a blog post every week’ doesn’t fit into my year. I’ve trialled writing a little bit of my novel in a journal every day so far this year. I wanted to write a couple of pages a day. ‘A couple of pages’ doesn’t fit into my day, every day. A few lines, however, does.

So these are the goals I have settled on. The ones that feel like they can be carried along with me through the day-to-day of my 2018:

☆ Write every day – I plan to write something each day towards my novel, in a little notebook. Be that one sentence, or one piece of dialogue, a description, or a character’s thought. This is more manageable some days than opening up my laptop and following a chronological outline. So far, I’ve managed to write at least something each day all week. One day that was a few pages, another day it was three sentences. I’m hoping that this will keep me in my characters’ heads and their stories all year, even if I don’t get the chance to finish a typed-up novel.

☆ Read a broader range of genres – I don’t have specifics for this. I just want to give anything and everything a try, rather than my usual go-to’s

☆ Post on my blog at least twice a month – Twice a month doesn’t sound a lot, but posting even once a month has become a challenge for me over the last few months. I posted a lot less on here over November/December due to some intense deadlines (final year problems!). So I’m making a plan to post at least twice on here each month this year. And in the months where I’m not suffocated by essays, hopefully that will be much more!

☆ Combat feeling guilty for relaxing – By this, I mean that, rather than working 9am-11pm (that’s seriously what I was doing Monday-Saturday for the last few weeks of last term), I’m going to stop after dinner and read for an hour, or write for fun for a few minutes, or even just make myself a hot chocolate and listen to music. And I’m going to challenge myself not to feel guilty for doing it!

☆ Read my Bible more – my goal every year is to read my Bible every day, which is still my goal, but I am very bad at doing this. So I’m just going to carry on trying to read it more.

☆

☆

Those are my five challenges for the new year, bookish and otherwise.

Have you set any challenges or New Year’s resolutions this year? What are you hoping to achieve/challenge yourself to do?

Where Did The Dystopian Fiction Go?

Last night, I finished a Brazilian Netflix show called 3%. It hasn’t been advertised much at all, and I haven’t heard a single person talking about it. I found it after scrolling aimlessly through the sci-fi section a few times. It didn’t look like anything amazing, but I read the word ‘dystopian’ and something inside of me cheered a little. Dystopian – I hadn’t read or watched anything from that genre for a while. And it got me wondering…where did YA dystopian fiction go?

Reading Year in Review | 2016

2016 was the first year in which I set myself a goodreads challenge. I was feeling quite optimistic about it, despite having only finished 33 books in 2015. So I set myself a challenge of 50 books for the year, which has been a manageable number for me in previous years. I’ll say from the outset: I did not achieve this goal. I failed to counter in just what a busy and hectic year 2016 would be. So I’m not as upset with myself as I was this time last year, because I know that I have had an amazing year, and that reading just couldn’t take priority to some of these things.

But, just as I did in 2015, I am doing another Reading Year in Review, where I analyse the books that I have read in the year, in a little more depth! I’ve also added another couple of categories to talk about in this year’s edition!

BOOK DISCUSSION | Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (SPOILERS!)

It is books like this that made me start blogging. How can a human being read a book like this and keep all of their thoughts and emotions inside, without someone to explode with excitement to?

EoS begins with Aelin and the gang heading to Terrasen to meet with Darrow and some lords, to try to rally some support. But what is a Sarah J. Maas book without some despair to start off the story? Rejecting her claim as rightful Queen, they deny her her throne and the support she needs for war. But by this point in the series, Aelin has become so strong in herself, that she completely brushes this off, continuing on her journey, and calling in the large number of debts she has earned for herself over her assassin years. Remembering some of that Celaena swagger was a delight to read in this book!

BOOK DISCUSSION | Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms #3) by Morgan Rhodes (SPOILERS!!!)

THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK

The feels from this book.

Please bear in mind that I am writing this pretty much straight after finishing the book, on a Monday night, when I should probably be sleeping. But ya know…priorities = talking about this book. Otherwise sleep is probably not an option!

This book was absolutely amazing and I gave it 5 stars. If you want to check out the NON-SPOILER review then click here, but if you have already read the book and want to know all my SPOILERY thoughts then keep on reading!!!

Okay, so let’s start with a quick summary of what happened in this book…

Magnus becomes even more bae.
Cleo is a scarily good liar but we love her for it.
Lucia is one dumb girl, like seriously come on girl! She gives me the creeps though.
Jonas is a pathetic rebel leader. Where would he be without my new fave, Felix?
Lysandra is badass!
Alexius is strange and untrustworthy and I didn’t like him.
Nic and Ashur tore out my heart.
I would like King Gaius dead please.
Amara needs to be dead too if you don’t mind?
Please stop killing the characters I love though!
Or the feels will start killing me!

Now the super fast summary is out of the way, I’m going to assume you know what happened in the book, and go into all details and fun stuff…

I am a Magnus+Cleo shipper, and this book certainly did not disappoint! The tension between these two has just been growing and growing! As soon as Magnus rescued Cleo from execution, I was just waiting for one of them to admit something! Magnus is by no means a changed man by the end of this book, but I think as a reader we begin to relate to him on a much more emotional level. As his feelings for Cleo visibly grow, I think he does become a little softer. It does say a lot of Cleo though, that she can see past Magnus’ harsh outer shell, his evil family, and what he has (in part) done to her family, and still have feelings for him. I don’t think even by the end of this book she knows those feelings are fully romantic, but they definitely have some feelings and I need to see how they play out in the next book!

“Magnus had come to a horrible realization. One that he knew would cause him nothing but pain and suffering from that day forward.
But there was no changing the truth of it.
He had fallen in love with her.”

I liked how most of the romantic pairings seemed to be going in this book, with the grand exception of Lucia and Alexius! I really liked them together in Rebel Spring, but their relationship made me so frustrated in Gathering Darkness. He was just so off from the beginning, and the fact that Lucia didn’t really question him at all, and after about two weeks was all ready to elope and marry him…she is clearly a very sad and lonely girl. She really needs a good friendship, and I was really hoping that Cleo could have been that for her. I honestly thought that she would tell Lucia the truth about her ring and telling Jonas about the Kindred, and that they could have somehow worked together. But then I forgot I was reading a Morgan Rhodes book where nothing really works out for the best does it?

Jonas was my least favourite character again. His chapters are by far my least favourite of all. They’re not bad at all, he just really annoys me. He is a bit useless. On the one hand, I like that the rebel leader is not the physically strongest character, despite probably having the best motives, as it makes for some interesting character dynamics with other characters around him (like Lysandra and Felix). But mostly it just annoys me. I still don’t think he has quite grasped how serious his role is, or how much planning needs to happen to pull of a successful rebellion. I really hope that in future books he comes out of himself a bit, because at the moment I feel that he isn’t really a character without the other characters around him!

Prince Ashur and Princess Amara were probably my favourite characeters in this book, even more so than the main four. When Ashur turned on Nic near the end of the book, I was frantically searching his characeter for some way he could be good, but I was not expecting what actually happened at all! I think the ‘flashback’ of Ashur’s plans completely shocked me, but in a very good way. I recovered from my surprise and was just happy. And then he dies!!!???? Why are you doing this to my heart, sad book!?

That scene brought me close to tears, I was so upset and shocked. I feel like Morgan Rhodes saves all of the plot-twists for the last 50 pages of the book so they all happen at the same time and we can’t cope with it all and cry until we can get to the next book.

I want to talk about that final scene though! Lucia manages to take Melania’s power and kill her, and feels creepily satisfied at doing so – I mean I know Melenia was evil but at the moment I feel like Lucia could become worse. I like Lucia as a character, and I really want to root for her, but her decisions were so stupid in this book. I have no idea what she and the newly awakened god of fire (Gathering Darkness at it again with the random plot twists) are going to do together, but I am very interested to see where it will go, and what side Lucia will choose by the end.

I just ended up finishing this book with a bajillion questions: How will Magnus regain favour with his father, King Gaius, after killing Cronus, freeing Cleo, and failing to return with Lucia? Will his feelings for Cleo change his actions at all? Will Jonas and Felix re-unite together? How will Nic deal with Prince Ashur’s death? And who one earth is supposed to be the main villain now?

Thank you Thank you that Frozen Tides is already out! At least I can put all of my feelings back into reading the next book!

 

Book Discussion: A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas (SPOILERS!)

This is going to be the most fun book review I have ever written. I don’t even have a plan for it, and I’m literally just going to write this out how it comes to my mind, but I have so much to talk about with this book.

First of all, this is a SPOILER book discussion.DO NOT READ THIS IS YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK!

If you want the non-spoiler review, you can check that out here!

Okay so in ACOTAR, I was kind of Team Tamlin. Not because I loved Tamlin. Actually, Tamlin was my least favourite of the male characters in the book, while Rhysand was my favourite. The reason was because I believe in fairytale happy endings. And Feyre literally killed herself out of her love for Tamlin Under the Mountain. She LITERALLY DIED FOR HIM! So a huge part of me wanted them to live happily ever after, because after all she had put herself through, out of her love for him, surely they were meant to last forever.

But then again, I understood the Rhysand x Feyre shippers, because I LOVED Rhysand and I loved the scenes with them together. But I didn’t want to think of poor Feyre going thrugh all of that and then not living happily ever after with Tamlin.

But this book just threw it at me…Feyre going through all that she did, was important for her self development, far more than for any love. Because from the very beginning of ACOMAF, it is so blindingly clear that Feyre and Tamlin are both such different people than they were in ACOTAR. And although Feyre truly (and I do believe she truly did) loved Tamlin…she loved him as human Feyre, who had lived a life of hunger and poverty and lack of love, and wanted love and protection. After the things she had gone through, she no longer wanted such protection: the now-Fae Feyre needed to be a protector. All at the same time as Tamlin had seen the woman he loved die and come back to life in front of him, and believed that showing her love would be to protect her and keep her safe. He just goes about it in a kind of twisted, jerk-y way. I mean, the scene where he locks her into the house had my head raging…

Sarah J. Maas is so good at describing emotional pain (I mean that in the best possible way!), and I so completely felt the pain Feyre was feeling. After so long not feeling anything, this becomes the point that anger and despair actually come to her, and it is such a powerful scene. Tamlin, I know you wanted to protect her but COME ON! You don’t lock the woman up and imprison her! You don’t make her wear dresses when she feels constantly uncomfortable in them! You don’t resign her to wedding planning when she has literally just saved your entire country from Amarantha and is clearly capable of so much more! You don’t tell her there is no such thing as High Lady, when you are just feeding her lie after lie to stop her becoming your equal, all to protect her.

I think the thing is, Tamlin loved, and I think still loves, Feyre. But, when he loved her before, it was out of trying to woo her to save his people. And now there wasn’t an imminent threat to his people, there was no rush or challenge in it any more. I think he just forgot that he needed to try any more. But that was just what Feyre needed.

I got closure of the Feyre x Tamlin reletionship being over, and I actually really appreciated it. In so many series, the female character (it is usually a female character, I’m not stereotyping here!) falls madly and deeply in love with the first male that shows them any love and kindness, and this love carries until the end of the series. And this is actually annoying because it is usually their first love too, and how many people’s first love is their true love? I mean, obviously that does happen, but it is annoying to read about all the time. So I really appreciated this book for shaking that up!

Which nicely brings me on to Rhysand…

Rhysand Rhysand Rhysand. Why are you not a real person? It’s not actually fair. I think he has actually become the number one book boyfriend after this book. It’s official…in the completely fictional sense, of course *not really because it’s real in my head though*

When Rhysand interrupts Tamlin and Feyre’s wedding…

He just sort of swaggers in:

“I whirled, and through the night drifting away like smoke on a wind, I found Rhysand straightening the lapels of his black jacket. 
“Hello, Feyre darling,” he purred.”

I mean, reading back over this scene now is so emotional and gives it so much more significance, knowing that he knew they were mates (which I’ll get onto in a minute!). And later on in the book, when he tells her that he would have let her be wed, had she not been desperately, silently pleading in her head for someone to get her out of it. Rhysand would have let the marriage go on if she had been happy. He was going to sacrifice his love so that she would be happy.

Basically, Rhysand is the best. I had so many favourite Rhysand and Feyre scenes, but these are some of them: *emphasises the ‘some’ because if she were to give them all we would be here for hours*

1.The moment where he wakes her after a nightmare (which is significant because Tamlin never did and he was sleeping in the same bed!)

“Hands – there were hands on my shoulders, shaking me, squeezing me. I thrashed against them, screaming, screaming – 
“FEYRE.”
The voice was at once the night and the dawn and the stars and the earth, and every inch of my body calmed at the primal dominance in it.
“Open your eyes,” the voice ordered.
I did.”

2. The scene where Feyre is describing the paintings she did for her sisters in her home.

“Rhys’s voice was raw as he said to the floor, “What did you paint for yourself?”
I drew out the fifth, moving to the sixth before saying, “I painted the night sky.”
He stilled.”

I guess this scene only feels all the more significant to me after finishing. Because when he later tells her that it was him who sent those images through her mind, not knowing who she was, or where she was, but knowing that she was somewhere safe and could hold onto that image he so loved…

Which brings me onto number three…

3. The mating-bond-acceptance scene! AKA best, most emotional scene I think I have ever read. Rhysand tells Feyre his story, and he is so raw and honest and open and I literally sobbed

“If you were going to die, I was going to die with you. I couldn’t stop thinking it over and over as you screamed, as I tried to kill her: you were my mate, my mate, my mate.
But then she snapped your neck.”
Tears rolled down his face.
“And I felt you die,” he whispered.
Tears were sliding down my own cheeks.
“And this beautiful, wonderful thing that had come into my life, this gift from the Cauldron…It was gone.”

“And I said, “You love me?”
Rhys nodded.
And I wondered if love was too weak a word for what he felt, what he’d done for me. For what I felt for him.”

But besides from all of the main characters, this book’s cast of side characters was so fantastic.

Along with Rhys and the Night Court, come his inner court:

Cassian – Basically, the sarcastic, funny, strong but loving character that everyone loves

Azriel – The quiet, reserved character who clearly has so much depth left to unveil

Mor – Possibly my favourite female character in this trilogy. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her. She is powerful and strong, and knows she can inflict so much pain, and yet she is kind and loving, aware of those around her, and restrains from inflicting such pain.

Amren – Who I’m not fully sure about yet. She was certainly interesting, but also a little creepy. But we apparently find out her story in book three, so I am reserving judgement!

And of course there is Nesta and Elain. Elain I still liked, Nesta I am struggling with. I get that she is hard and cold but still loves those close to her, but I just really find it difficult to connect to her. But the next book is probably going to break that because…

NESTA AND ELAIN ARE NOW FAE!!!

I did not see that coming at all! I think at this point I was skim reading a little (which I always do when it comes close to the end of the book, because I am always desperate to get to the ending to find out what happens – I’m impatient, I know!) and I had to re-read this whole scene again, because my brain was so confused.

So now humans can just be made into Fae by being put into this liquid?

But my reservations about that aside, it really does make the ships a lot easier because…

Nesta and Cassian are going to happen. THEY ARE!!!

And Elain and Lucien ARE MATES…well, I kind of saw that one coming actually…

…and I kind of like it.

So I’m leaving my review there because I could go on for hours and hours about my feelings on this book. So I’m going to leave you with probably my favourite quote/moment of the whole book…

“Welcome to the family, Feyre.”
And I thought those might have been the most beautiful words I’d ever heard.”

BOOK DISCUSSION: Rebel Spring (Falling Kingdoms #2) by Morgan Rhodes (SPOILERS!)

 

This book talk will be full of spoilers, so if you haven’t read Falling Kingdoms and Rebel Spring so DON’T read (unless you want spoilers!)

If you want my non-spoiler review then you can check it out here!

Okay, so guys…this book…where do I even begin?

Morgan Rhodes you have messed with my emotions! In this series, no one is safe! I think there was a few chapters in a row where Aron, Jonas (although not really!) and someone else I can’t remember now, were killed. Every time you get to know a characetr, you don’t want to get too attached in case they don’t make it, but you just can’t help but getting emotionally attached to them in some way!

I heard before going into this series, that it is one in which you ship every character with every character. I am usually the sort of reader that decides on a ship, and is not happy when that ship wavers or (even worse) sinks – I’m sure I’m not alone there! But in this series, it feels like your OTP could change at any given moment. That said… Magnus X Cleo in this book were just the best pair! I can’t wait to see where their story goes!

So anyway, I’m going to try to divide this Book Talk up into characters, to refrain from writing a messy incoherent jumble of sentences!

First of all…

Magnus

Oh Magnus! Everyone loves Magnus! He is such an interesting, unique character with so much depth. I felt like this book was actually a turning point for him in many ways. In Falling Kingdoms, we kind of see him getting closer to his father, and following in King Gaius’ footsteps more and more. In Rebel Spring, although we still see this connection, Magnus really begins to stand with his own opinions and stances (even if some of them are slightly morally ambiguous!). He is by no means the hero, but I think *hope* he is heading in that direction, as opposed to his becoming darker and darker in Book 1. I’m thinking that perhaps Cleo has in some way softened him just a little. I mean, the tension between them is so well written! And the wedding night scene!

“And should anyone ask, this night surpassed every one of your wildest fantasies about me”

He is so serious, that when he makes these odd comments, you aren’t sure whether to take them as sarcasm, or emotion, which just makes the tension so much higher between the two of them. And their kiss on the wedding tour was probably one of the best kisses I have read in a fantasy book. Just how unromantic and yet romantic it was, both at the same time. It was like I could visualise the fireworks exploding in my head!

Cleo

Cleo really grew on me in this book. I found her a little difficult to connect with in the first book, but after losing Theon, her father, and her sister all at the end of Falling Kingdoms, seeing the way she deals with every situation makes her a lot more likeable. She becomes such a strong, tough, and yet relatable, character in this book. There are so many times when she comes across as so strong – like after the wedding, when Jonas calls for her to escape with him after the failed assassination attempt on King Gaius, and Cleo tells him to leave without her because of her heavy wedding dress slowing her down. I do wonder though, would she have left with him if she could have? Or would she have stayed. She professed so many times to herself and others that she wanted to stay with King Gaius and Magnus in Auranos because she needed to reclaim her throne, but I felt like there was more to it than that – fear of what it would mean for her to leave.

Jonas

Jonas is probably my least favourite of the main four. That may be a slightly unpopular opinion, but out of all of the chapters, his are the ones I feel the need to read and get through more quickly, and find I have slightly less interest in. I thought the scene where he kisses Cleo felt a little strange and confusing to me. Perhaps it was just the emotional tension of his absolute hatred for her, combined with the shock of seeing that she was actually a good person, that confused him and made him kiss her, but to me it just didn’t make sense, and I didn’t feel any connection between them. And I feel like he has such little common sense sometimes. I mean, how could he think that he and a few of his rebels could walk into the most important wedding of the time, (of the son of the powerful King who had just conquered the whole of the three lands in barely any time) and be able to kill him and walk out alive. I think the point of the scene was to show just how inexperienced in battle and rebellion the rebels are, but still, it just made me face-palm!

Lucia

Lucia is a very interesting character. I’m still not sure if I like her or not. I feel like she has the potential to become the greatest hero of the story, just as much as becoming the most powerful villain. You can see that she still has an innocence and unsure nature in her actions, but then it’s like her magic just takes over her and takes control. For instance, the scene where the witch is trying to teach her to use magic (and yet has to strain just to light a single candle), and Lucia gets so annoyed and irritated that she almost kills the girl. She is so powerful, and yet at the same time, she is the same age as Cleo whilst coming across as much younger. I do find her a very intriguing character though, and I am really curious to see how she will develop over future books.

I also liked that this instalment had many chapters on different side characters, aside from the main four. Alexis, Lysandra, the King, Nic etc. This series has such a good, strong cast of side characters, who all have just as interesting stories as the key four, and I love that the main story can be broken up with these side plots.

Overall, this was an AMAZING book and so much better than Falling Kingdoms. I love that I have absolutely no idea where this story is going to go, and I love that I am completely happy with that. (Okay, I may have used the word ‘love’ far too many times in this review, but it is the one word that best encompasses my feelings towards this book!) I am content for this series to just keep surprising and shocking me with its plot twists and tension.

Bring on Gathering Darkness!!!

 

How to (kick)start your Bookstagram!

Want to make a bookstagram account, but not sure how to get started with your pictures?

Already have a bookstagram, but feeling a bit tired with your feed?

Well, guess which expert is here to help!
(Okay, I’m by no means an expert, but I’m going through a photo-posting frenzy at the moment, and am feeling quite inspired, so I can at least pretend!)

So here are ten of my Bookstagram tips and tricks – to get you taking more pictures, posting more regularly, feeling more creative and inspired, and boost up that follower count!

1) THEMES
Themes are a sort of general structure to your pictures, that makes your feed look more coordinated. This can be a certain place that you take your pictures in, a certain filter, brightness or contrast edit that you use throughout your pictures, similar props that feature – the list goes on. For me, I take the majority of my pictures on white bedsheets, turn the brightness and contrast right up, and almost always throw some flowers in! You don’t have to have a theme, (and of course you can change your theme whenever you’re feeling some new inspiration) but if you’re feeling a bit stuck on how to take your pictures, having a general structure can be quite helpful to keep you going!

2) WHAT BOOKS TO TAKE PICTURES OF?
Often, it’s difficult to find more books to take pictures of. You have your whole bookshelf staring at you, and you have no idea which you should photograph! Here are some fail-safe ideas…

Currently Reading: people love to know what you’re reading, and its a great way to spark some discussion in the comments section too!

TBR: If the book you’re currently reading is taking you forever to finish, you could post some pictures of the books you want to read next. It might also motivate you to finish the book you’re reading at the moment too!

Favourites: Favourite books, favourite covers, favourite spines – just find your favourites and snap away. I swear, The Night Circus has featured on my bookstagram feed so many times, and I still always find some new way to take a picture of it!

 

Book Haul: Show your followers your latest book purchases (or a library haul is equally good here!).

3) LINK TO YOUR BLOG POSTS
If you have recently posted on your blog, take a picture related to it, and use it as a way to direct people to your new post. If you’ve written a new review – take a picture of that book and let people know you have done a review. If you have posted a Wrap-up, post a picture of the books you read. Let your blog inspire your pictures too!

4) GET INVOLVED IN PHOTO CHALLENGES
These are pretty much everywhere on Bookstagram. Every month, there will be plenty of new monthly book-photo challenges that other bookstagrammers have created. Use these to inspire you – and give you a push to post every day too. They take a bit of the thinking away, so you can focus on the picture, and not on what to take the picture of.

5) TAKE PICTURES OF BOOKSHELVES
A #shelfie is indeed a thing – yes, a bookshelf selfie. People love to see pictures of other people’s bookshelves, and it can actually be really inspiring to see how other people arrange and decorate their shelves. I have found that some of my most ‘liked’ photos are those of my bookshelves. It also doesn’t take too much effort, and doesn’t create a big mess (as long as you keep your bookshelves tidy and organised so you can snap whenever you please!) And don’t worry if you don’t have bookshelves or own many books. Take a trip to your local bookshop or library and take some photos of their shelves. They don’t really need to be overly pretty. My most liked picture is a kind of grainy, haphazard, not particularly artistic or pretty, picture of one part of my shelves (the picture on the right here)…

6) INCORPORATE YOUR NON-BOOKISH LOVES
Art, music, fashion, nail-art, sports, interior design, frogs…they can all be added to your bookish pictures to add a bit of your own personality to your photos. Just look at how many bookstgram photos feature funkopop figures (including moi!), fan-art that people have drawn, iPods etc. For me, it’s flowers. I’m obsessed with flowers, and also tea. Tea and/or flowers will appear in basically every picture of mine, because they add a bit more of my personality and touch into my pictures!

 

7) USE YOUR BOOKISH MERCH!
I don’t actually have a lot of bookish merchandise, but some people have loads! If you have your time-turner, wand, Ravenclaw scarf, mockingjay pin, or posters at the ready, get in some pictures of those alongside their respective books!

Other than my funkopop figures of bookish characters, I don’t have loads of merch

8) NOTICE THE COLOURS
Sometimes it can be fun to take pictures of books based on their colour. Maybe you have a large stack of black books (basically, half of my book collection is black!) then get some together, find some black accessories, and take an all-black picture. You can do this with any colour. And at the other end of the spectrum, you can snap some rainbow books! Rainbow book stacks are really popular on bookstagram!

9) UPDATE YOUR FEED WITH YOUR BOOKISH OUTINGS
Whether it be a simple trip to a bookshop, or a visit to the Lord of the Rings set in New Zealand, people love to see pictures of your book-related outings – although if you have been to the latter, maybe don’t post pictures, because I will be insanely jealous! I’m joking.

Not really though.

My favourite bookish place is Shakespeare and Co. – the most beautiful bookshop in Paris!

10) #HASHTAGS #HASHTAGS #HASHTAGS!
Obviously the key use of hashtagging is to get your pictures out there, and to get more people to see them. But also, searching for hashtags yourself can open you up to lots of new pictures and accounts. Plenty of times I have found a picture that has inspired me to take one similar myself.
#bookstagram #yalit #bookblogger #instabooks #booknerd – are some of my favourites to search through. But you can also search for a specific book too, and see how people have pictured that particular cover in their photo. It’s all about the inspiration!

Thanks for reading!

I hope my ten Bookstagram tips have given you some ideas for your own account! If you have any top tips that you use for your own bookish picture-taking, please share them in the comments!

Readers Can Relate #2 – The Book Hangover

What is a book hangover?

The urban dictionary states: When you’ve finished a book and you suddenly return to the real world, but the real world feels incomplete or surreal because you’re still living in the world of the book.

However, there is much more to it than that!

So what are some of the symptoms of the book hangover?

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1.Staring at walls

You need to collect those thoughts and emotions together. For some reason, walls help with that.

2. Feeling drained of all emotion

You’ve had enough of emotion. The book has drained it out of you.

3. Being asked what’s wrong. 

Nothing… just emotional trauma, that’s all.

4. Desperately searching your bookshelves for a book that might cure you of said hangover, but nothing seems adequate, interesting or in any way enjoyable to read. Also known as the reading slump!

It doesn’t matter how many books you have. None of them will do.

5. Carrying the book everywhere with you. It comes to bed with you, goes to dinner with you, even makes it’s way to the toilet with you. 

Okay, maybe not the toilet.

6. You open the book on regular occasions, re-reading your favourite parts and grinning stupidly at the pages like you’re reading it for the first time.

This earns you a few funny looks. Make sure you do it in the privacy of your room.

7. You start to use the language and slang of the book

No one usually gets you, but that’s okay. If it makes you feel better, just do it!

8. But really, you just want someone to talk about the book with.

So you force someone else to read it too.