Category Archives: Book Advice

Learning to DNF – part 1

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This is the story of the person I was before I embraced DNFing books…

I have always been a list maker, a goal setter, and a journal keeper. So I can tell you *specifically* how I went from a “must finish everything that I start” reader to a “DNF on page 1” reader. 

The year…2018…the time…that week between Christmas and New Year’s where everyone rests and socializes and *I* go on unhinged marathon goal planning sessions. (Happy to talk more about that if anyone is interested.) I was looking through my reading docs and reflecting on my year. It was my 3rd year in a row of not meeting my reading goal of 50 books. 

Something that I had implemented that year was keeping a record of every book that I started, and I noticed that where were a *lot* left on the list – some of which I’d started the year before!

So my list convinced me, if I had just finished every book that I started, I would have met my goal!

I also made the brilliant (heavy sarcasm) conclusion that audiobooks were really slowing me down – mostly due to the fact that I can read with my eyes faster than my ears. Especially back then, when I didn’t know that you could speed up audiobooks! But more on that next week, I digress…

My list had me convinced about my 2019 bookish resolution – I decided that I would dedicate time to read at least 10 pages a day of whatever the first book that I started was. 

Do you know how long it takes me to read 10 pages of a book that I’m not interested in? Hours. Years. I cannot make myself read something with my eyes that I’m not interested in. 

So that was the proof that I needed. I read more when I’m enjoying what I read. Instead of forcing myself to read books that I do not enjoy, I quit them, and I read more because I enjoy the books that I’m reading.

I will still find myself reading books that I have to set aside time to read (as opposed to just tearing through them). Some books start slower or are dense or heavy and I need more breaks. Those aren’t necessarily the kinds of books that I DNF. But, if I find myself really struggling to focus for even five minutes at a time – I know I need to DNF. 

Did you find this helpful? Check out my highlights for other reading or bookstagram advice! 

Come back next week to hear about how I stopped feeling guilty about loving audiobooks. 

Let me know in the comments – how hard is it for you to DNF?

Finding New Releases

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A friend on Instagram asked me the other day how I find the books before they are released in order to request them. (Referring to my ARC lists and “Out this week” posts.)

The short answer: I spend almost as much time scrolling book lists as I do reading.

The long answer: I feel like being a reader is a combination of hobbies:
-actually reading
-finding books to read / adding books to your TBR
-buying books
…not to mention all of the add-on hobbies you could collect: book journaling, shelf arranging and decorating, book clubs, bookstagram, BookTok, etc…

But, to answer the actual question, I have a number of ways that I find out about books before they are released.

My main way now is through influencer marketing. For the publishers who I am on an influencer mailing list for, some of them will send us catalogs of upcoming books that we can then request. (Which is basically my dream come true?) I add everything that looks remotely interesting to my Goodreads “Want to Read” – which is an exceptionally long list. I try to request a more reasonable number of books, to varying degrees of success.

Even if you are not on Influencer mailing lists, you can browse Netgalley, which is a free website where you can start reviewing books if that is something that you want to do. (I talked a little bit about Netgalley in my “Book Mail” post on January 4th –  but am happy to share more if y’all are interested!)

My other favorite way is, of course, from you! When my friends and other bookstagrammers post reviews/features/other posts, I add the ones that catch my eye to my TBR. 

Even more common than browsing are me & Dani’s ARC group chats. People are so amazing about sharing books as they get added to Netgalley or other places we can get review copies from. (If you want to join, we’re posting sign ups on Friday!) 

But, before I had those resources, I was still someone who tried to keep up with what was coming out. 

Goodreads has a feature where they’ll email you a list of books coming out in the next month by author’s you have already read. Which is kind of overwhelming, honestly. But I still click through it and make sure that I haven’t missed anything! 

I also look at lists that Goodreads puts out – they’ll often have things like “50 summer romances” or “Hot new Sci-fi and Fantasy.” And I add most of them to my Want to Read shelf. 

Hope this helps! What’s your favorite place to go to for book recommendations? (Feel free to shout out your own blog or a friend’s – I’m looking for more to follow!)