discussion – Down the Rabbit Hole

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!

September 23: Reading seasonally (Mikaela @ Mikaela Reads)

Prompts: Do you read seasonally? Do you like a beach read in summer, a spooky book in the autumn and holiday themed ones in winter? What’s your favorite season? Do you have any favorite seasonal reads?

Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH! Or should I say, Season’s Greetings! Now that it’s fall, it got dramatically colder, at least where I live. Appropriately, today’s topic is about seasonal readings and who partakes in it!

I don’t generally read seasonally. After all, murder mysteries and thrillers don’t lend itself to any season in my opinion. Okay I take that back; cozy mysteries do tend to lend itself to fall weather. However, I don’t really pick books according to the weather or season. Even if I were to, it would probably only be a book or two per season to “match”.

I do have a book club coming up that will be based on a Halloween theme! I do think that if you’re going to be setting up something with friends or a book club, that using a theme is a convenient way to narrow down choices for books, in case anyone is facing decision paralysis. I am certainly excited for that book club, and can’t wait to share it with all of you too when the time comes!

I read spooky books all year round, not just in autumn, but I think I do tend to pull out the beach reads during the summer, and perhaps the cozy mysteries in the colder season as well. Something about sitting by a fireplace and reading under the covers really lends itself to the atmosphere of certain books. Of course, if there’s a book I really want to read, the weather certainly won’t be stopping me.

My favourite season is generally autumn because I’m rather afraid of the high heat, but in true Canadian fashion, I really do complain about any weather that isn’t temperate. I also like reading all year round, and I would say the season doesn’t really affect it that much; it’s more likely that my work or schooling is what really affects what I am able to read each season.

Lastly, my guilty pleasure read is probably the Murder Mystery series by Joanne Fluke! The dessert themed mysteries really lend itself to a rather whimsical read in the colder seasons. What are your favourite seasonal reads? Let me know in the comments below!

discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Tips for Newbie Bloggers

September 16, 2022 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

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!

September 16: Tips for newbie bloggers (Aria)

Prompts: What have you learned since you first started blogging? What advice would you give to new bloggers? What is your favorite thing about blogging? What is the hardest part of blogging for you? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently with your blog?

Welcome everyone to another week of LTB here at DTRH. Today’s topic is suggested by our very own host, and certainly a new topic that hasn’t come around in the rotation much! I definitely don’t feel like I am the best person to be giving advice in this area but I’ll be looking around for tips myself maybe.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned (not just from my own experiences) is to be kind to yourself. Blogging is difficult! The basics of it are super simple, sure, but it’s actually a lot of work and it can take time to build up a blog. Never feel bad about taking a break if you need, nor for the slumps that inevitably happen too. Remember that blogging is supposed to be fun and you can’t really go wrong from there.

My advice would be to know yourself well. Some people need to stay super organized and that’s how content gets churned out. Others will post according to their whims and whatever spontaneous fancy they may have. And I’m sure there are all the people in between as well! Whatever your style is, make it work for you. Don’t try too hard to conform to something you aren’t. Number one, it isn’t fun. Number two, everyone wants to see you for you. So know yourself well, and try and show that off!

My favourite thing about blogging which I’m sure I’ve said before is the community. In my day to day life, I don’t actually know too many readers and book lovers. But here, there is a whole vast world of all you bookish people and honestly it really makes me feel like I belong. So I certainly appreciate all of you!

The hardest part about blogging is definitely time management and keeping up with the hobby. As with any hobby, it takes a certain time investment and this is no exception. Any hobby begins to slowly fade without you putting your effort into it! I still feel like a new blogger myself, so I’m not sure I would do anything differently yet. Having Andge to guide me through blogging really helped me through some beginner stages though, so maybe that’s why as well!

And that’s all for today! How would you all give advice to blog newbies? I honestly feel like a newbie myself still, so let me know in the comments below!

discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Character or Plot Focused Books?

September 10, 2022 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

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!

September 9: Character or Plot Focused Books? (Brooke @ The Reader’s Game)

Prompts: What makes a book more character focused? What makes one more plot focused? Which do you prefer? Do you have any recommendations for plot focused and character focused books?

Welcome back to another week of LTB here at DTRH everyone! I really like today’s topic, as I have actually talked about this a little bit throughout my reviews but never really dove into it as any sort of discussion. Can’t wait to hear what you all have to say about it as well as what people’s preferences generally are!

I think this distinction between character focused or plot focused is something that I think about often because I mainly read a lot of thrillers or murder mysteries. I think Verity would be an example of a more character focused book, where each character’s background is thoroughly explored and explained and the plot, while exciting, is mainly the support for the development of the characters and the suspense is created through the character’s interactions.

On the other hand, a plot focused book often doesn’t dive too deep into the characters, instead the plot is used to bring out the details of the characters, and the focus of the book is really more on the story as a whole, and characters are just brought in as needed. A book like Don’t Look For Me really focused on the situation and the whole drama behind the plot, rather than any character in focus, even though there of course is a protagonist trying to solve the case.

I think a mix of both is really good, but of course most books would tend to lean one way or the other. I think it is the most exciting/thrilling when both the plot and the characters drive each other. I think that provides the most forward momentum, and really makes it difficult to stop reading. Of course, if you really enjoy reading about c certain characters, that on its own is often enough to propel you forward, or similarly if you enjoy good plots.

It’s actually difficult to break down every book to say whether it’s character or plot focused, as there really is generally a mix of both. I think thrillers tend to be more plot driven, as usually the story is in the suspense and the characters are just pulled along for the ride. I’m thinking of books such by authors like Shari Lapena or Ruth Ware will often follow this pattern. The truth of the characters kind of comes out in the plots, and I think for thrillers I generally like this pattern.

That being said, the best thriller I’ve read in a while was probably Verity, which I think was really more character focused. But it certainly had a good enough plot to drive the development forwards. I think the main thing to take away from this whole discussion is that while good plot or good characters can really drive a story forward, it really shouldn’t be the only engine (at least in my opinion). Books that feel like the plot is dragged along by the characters, or vice versa, are really noticeable, and often makes a weaker book. It often gets a description like: while the character development was great, the plot left us a bit wanting, as some things felt out of the blue or just there for the sake of the character development. On the other hand, the plot could be great, but really left us wanting in terms of wanting to know the characters a bit better.

Do you all notice when either plot or character development is just dragging the other along? And which type of focused book do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below!