Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I don’t know about you, but I feel the summer months have just been flying by so quickly. I barely have time to do much here with you all, but I try to never miss out on a TTT. This week’s topic was about hilarious titles, but I’m not one to read a lot of funny things (also, I think my sense of humour is super specific?) so I have tweaked the topic to memorable titles (that may or may not be funny in some people’s eyes).
If you laughed or at least smiled at any of these titles, please give a thumbs up or something in the comments below! It’d totally make my day 🙂
Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!
August 5: All about Ebooks (suggested by me!)
Prompts: Are ebooks the future of books? What are the advantages and disadvantages of ebooks? Are ebooks strictly better than physical books? Do all avid readers prefer real, paper books? Do you use an e-reader, or read on a phone/tablet? Do you ever find yourself missing one or the other?
Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH! This week, it’s a topic suggested by yours truly. I actually don’t really remember what I wanted to say about this topic, but I certainly want to hear all your thoughts on this. So without further ado, let’s dive right in.
I don’t think e-books are strictly the future of books. But I do believe that e-books (and audiobooks) will by and large become a very large market for books, or at least big niches. That being said I don’t think they will either will ever “replace” the other. They really just aren’t the same thing, and there will always be a place in this world for both medias I think!
The main advantages is and will likely always be price and convenience for an e-book. Just nothing beats having unlimited books at your fingertips, limited only really by the memory of your device (although that is also expanding). One disadvantage that I find is that I’m also quite scared to damage my e-reader just as much as a book. So stuffing it randomly in a bag (especially with keys around, etc.) would make me similarly nervous as stuffing a physical book in a bag randomly. It just seems a little bit fragile! Another slight inconvenience is that I like the slightly larger handheld size of the e-reader (book-size), but that means it doesn’t really fit well in my pocket either. Small details, but still.
E-books are definitely not strictly better than regular books, but it definitely depends who you ask and when you’re asking. For example they may be slightly more impervious to water but I still don’t think I’d be swimming with an e-book.
I think generally avid readers do prefer physical books…in the sense that in a perfectly world with unlimited resources and space (and perhaps no environmental impact), people do like physical books a lot. That being said, literally none of those things are true in the real world so there are so many reasons why e-books take the advantage. This doesn’t make e-books any “worse” than regular books though, and in the spirit of this prompt I’d say actually avid readers probably prefer whatever “book” they can get their hands on. The reading experience is important yes, but not at the cost of being able to read the story at all, if you’re an avid reader I think!
I usually do use an e-reader but I also read off the library app on my phone. The phone is definitely slightly more tiring, but it helps a lot when the background is black with the white text (equivalent of dark mode). Of course this slowly drains my phone battery and is still slightly worse for my eyes, but it works in a pinch when there’s something I want to borrow and read. The convenience of these two media are just unmatched!
I am one of those people who will always miss the other when I’m using one. The inconveniences of a real book remind me of an e-book (even something as simple as returning the book to the library, or finding a bookmark), whereas the mechanical feel of an e-reader sometimes makes me feel like missing the feel of turning actual pages in a book. Another inconvenience of an e-reader is being unable to easily flip back and forth between chapters as easy as I could with a physical book. Does anyone else relate to that?
Welcome everyone to a new and experimental segment at Down the Rabbit Hole! We’ve been hinting at it and it’s finally here.
We thought it might be interesting if we were to take some famous characters from our favourite novels and do a personality analysis. We have chosen two common types of personality tests to apply to the characters: Myers Briggs (MB) and the Enneagram.
Below we have started with Six of Crows and the six protagonists. Both types of personality tests offer their own strengths in what they can show. See if you agree with our analyses below!
Kaz Brekker
MB: Architect (INTJ): Imaginative and strategic thinkers, with a plan for everything.
Kaz is a huge planner and strategist, who also really knows how to hold a grudge. The mastermind always has a plan behind another plan, and even if his overly meticulously planning may be driven by a fear of the past, he certainly uses this drive to further his goals. Even into the sequel, Crooked Kingdom, this continues to be the case. With the way Kaz keeps to himself, it just made sense to me that he would be an introverted “strategic thinker.”
Enneagram: Type 8 – Core Motivation: to be in control and protect themselves
It would likewise make sense to put Kaz as a Type 8, someone who thrives off of being in control. If anything can be said about Kaz, it’s that he’s protective of the very few people who are close enough to him to be called family. In that manner, he’d do literally anything to ensure their safety and control for all unpredictable variables. For someone in his position in a place such as Ketterdam, perhaps it’s best that he is this way.
Inej Ghafa
MB: Logistician (ISTJ): Quiet, serious, practical, realistic and organized. Values traditions and loyalty.
Inej is certainly all those things. She is all things practical, perhaps too practical to the point of unfeeling. Once again though, there are reasons as to why she has been nurtured to such a point, but throughout both books Inej is certainly quiet and sneaky, acting as Kaz’s spider, and is always thoroughly dependable. She certainly values traditions and has her knives named and has her own little ritual for every mission. She is also extremely loyal to Kaz from beginning to end.
Enneagram: Type 1 – Core Motivation: to be good and do things right
Out of all the Crows, Inej demonstrates the principles and beliefs she holds tightly to even while surrounded in an environment that more easily destroys such beliefs than nurtures them. While we went back and forth for a bit in deciding what her largest core motivation was, we ultimately landed on Type 1. She may come across as idealistic at times which influences disagreements between her and Kaz, but every group needs someone to be their conscience when things get murky walking the line in the morally gray zone.
Jesper Fahey
MB: Entertainer (ESFP): Outgoing, friendly and accepting. Lovers of life, people and material comforts. Flexible and spontaneous.
Jesper was little bit more difficult to pin down a personality for, but in the end I decided on this one. Jesper uses humour as a defence mechanism, and doesn’t want people to to get too close. He is guarded due to his backstory and certainly enjoys his material comforts…perhaps a little too much. Outwardly he is fairly carefree and is approachable, even if it may be driven by hidden motives.
Enneagram: Type 9 – Core Motivation: to maintain peace and be without conflict
He’s the fun, without-a-care kind of guy (on the surface) who makes the group laugh when they need it. While Type 9s are known for peacemaking, anxiety and pessimism with bursts of emotion are common when under stress. In his way of unhealthily not dealing with the serious matters in his life, Jesper displays a lot of qualities of a Type 9 in stress. I mean, there are a lot of things going for the Crows – especially conflict related – so it’s only understandable.
Nina Zenik
MB: Debater (ENTP): Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in challenging problems. Good at reading other people.
I mean if that doesn’t describe Nina then I don’t know what does. She is certainly good at reading other people being a Heartrender and is all the above adjectives as well. While all the team members are quite resourceful in pulling off the heist, I found that Nina definitely had the most shining moments where she almost single-handedly turns around a sinking ship. She is quick, witty, flirty, and outspoken, and will not stand down.
Enneagram: Type 2 – Core Motivation: to be lovedand appreciated
Nina, besides the name of the kind of Grisha she is, does a lot of things from the heart. Even going head to head (and falling in love) with someone who initially sought to harm her. We put her as Type 2 as she also demonstrates such loyalty for Ravka as a soldier and her unending love for her friends. She puts them above her own needs sometimes. Her outward behaviour may scream loud and bold but her motivation seems to stem from love (to love and to be loved).
Matthias Helvar
MB: Advocate (INFJ): Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values.
Matthias was another slightly difficult one to pin down, and this I attributed to his internal confliction. On the one hand, his feelings for Nina cannot be denied, but on the other, his upbringing and culture completely denies and defies these feelings, leaving him in a sorry state. Given that though, he really always had her best interest at heart, although he was still certainly always conscientious and committed to his firm values as a drüskelle.
Enneagram: Type 6 – Core Motivation: to feel a sense of security and belonging
Oh Matthias. How I do love thee. He was very hard to peg down at times for his internal motivations as he’s not one to overly share. But taking into account his overall story arc wherein Nina challenges his whole worldview from his loyalty to his country and the beliefs they instilled in him, it says Type 6 to us. It’s the idea of wanting everything to be as it should be, and much of his story was figuring out what that would look like so he may gain some peace in knowing his place in the world.
Wylan Van Eck
MB: Logician (INTP): Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible and adaptable. Good at solving problems in their area of expertise. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical.
Though Wylan certainly suffers from his own weaknesses, he also adeptly utilizes his strengths. I found that this personality description matched him the best, as he was often the one coming up with the logical and probable solutions using his hard skills, rather than relying on something like pure intuition or gut feeling. Quiet and slow to open up, he is certainly the learning type, and one who is fascinated in things he is interested in.
Enneagram: Type 5 – Core Motivation: to feel competent and understand the world around them
Wylan, the most innocent one among the Crows, struggled a lot to feel like he belonged. He definitely has the skills with demolitions and seems to always be curious to learn new things from the others. In that sense, he’s most definitely a Type 5 with their yearning to be competent at what they do and their innate ability to store information to creatively add to their repertoire of skills.
We hope you enjoyed this new series! What do you think of our personality typing choices for these beloved characters? Please let us know in the comments below.
Down the Rabbit Hole 