Bookish Problems #24 - Recap

Hiya! Well usually people do recaps for some special numbers, like 50 or 100, but me - I like number 24 so why not make it a recap post. Unusual I know, but I do what I want. 

Anyhow this is where I'll list all our bookish problems till now, just to remind you of some topics that we covered. Of course we also plan much more, and maybe celebrate properly some magical number. We shall see. Till them here is what you maybe missed:

Bookish Problems in order:

1. Sequels I'm Afraid to Read 
2. Should I Request that ARC?
3. Recommendations and Hyped Books
4. What to do When Suffering from a Reading Slump?
5. New Adult Cliches 
6. I Have Nothing to Read 
7. Why Translations are Never Good Enough
8. No Awkwardness Found (Tanja's fave but don't tell that to others, they're jealous creatures)
9. It's Saturday? Already? 
10. Reading and Music
11. Where to Order that Book? 
12. Reading Lists
13. Negative Reviews and One Star Ratings 
14. Having a Co-Blogger
15. NetGalley vs Edelweiss
16. All About DNFs  
17. Reading Schedule: Yes? No? Maybe? 
18. Do we have to Love Every Book?
19. Spread Love, Not War 
20. Review Requests 
21. Memes
22. Burnouts 
23. Inspiration
24. Recap 

This is also a chance to thank you all for being part of this meme with your comments! You're what makes this all work. We love reading your comments and wonderful suggestions and ideas! Keep them coming! 

That's it for now, but expect more posts in future. As matter of fact some are already ready and scheduled. Stay tuned! 

Until the next time, 

The Sunday Post (#52)

Hello all. Well, as some of you know Sundays are always reserved for Sunday Post which is a meme created by lovely Kim @Caffeinated Book Reviews!

Morning all! How are you today? Hopefully you're enjoying some sunny days. Glass and I aren't that happy as we've got plenty of rain this weekend. Still it meant more time for reading, it's not like we want to do anything else on rainy days. However, midterms are coming closer and for Tanja that means studying while Glass has to prepare test. It's hard to say how is having harder task. But we shall manage.

But, back to our blog. Let's see what we have for you.

• Bookish Problems #23: Inspiration
• Series Review - Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews (part 2) 
• Waiting on Wednesday (#143) 
• Series Review - Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggis
• #CoverLust: Ten Thousand Skies Above
• YA Books that All Should Read

• #CoverLust: The Edge of Nowhere 
• Thorn by Intisar Khanini
• Waiting on Wednesday (#144)
• Series Review - Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson 
• Bookish Problem #24: Recap

Tanja's haul 

Thank you: Disney Hyperion

Until the next time, 

Bookish Problems #23: Inspiration!

Hello again! Last time I spoke about not that pleasant thing called burnout, so now I want to discuss something more pleasant and it's inspiration. 

If you ask me the only good thing when it comes to burnouts is that afterwards comes inspirations. It's like you get to breath again and your words are back. After almost a month away from any sort of writing I was back today and well wrote over 10 posts in just a couple of hours. I've found my words.

That and another thing I'm curious about is what inspires you? I have seen plenty of amazing reviews and you all know how to put your emotions into words and for me that's the best thing ever. The questions is are you always that inspired?

I certainly am not. I mean my reviews go from "What was in my head when I wrote this?" to "WOW! How come I don't get this inspired in my essays?". And actually I got the answer. It depends. It's all about the book I've read. Some really inspire me and turn my head upside down. Like for example All the Bright Places that I've finished just hours ago. While I have read like three books for my classes and well judging by my marks inspiration wasn't there truly. I know I can do much better.

So what inspires you? Beautiful writing, perhaps? Weather? Tell me. I cannot wait to hear! 

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems #22: Burnouts!

Hello all! Yes we're back with some discussions here. I haven't seen you all in a while so why not spice it up. Besides the reason I wasn't here that much was actually in the title. I kinda of burned out. 

It's been a harsh month for me, in many ways. So the pressure and everything made me just worried and restless. Usually when it happens I run away, I just pick a book and disappear. Only the problem was I couldn't do it this time. Every time I picked the book I was just reading a few pages and then I realized I was still there. My head was still about to blow and I didn't feel any better. Actually I felt worse because I knew that I couldn't enjoy books that I'd enjoy normally and it didn't seem fair. So I stopped!

It worries me that there are problems that books cannot solve. They have always been my sanctuary from everything, but it seems that sometimes you just need to clear your head and go slow.

The point of all that is that I was just curious how you deal with such moments. For me it's just putting all aside and tackling one time after another, slowly and most of all walking. It calms me down.

What do you do? Do you continue reading or just stop like me? Share! Share! 

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems #21 - Memes

Hiya again. Tanja here. I know we've been struggling to keep up lately, but currently both of us have a lot to do to. But last night I was writing some posts and I got an idea for Bookish problems! YAY. So let's talk about memes.

You have certainly done and if not then seen memes that a lot of us do. So I just wondered what's your opinion about them. I know there is plenty and even some of my friends here (maybe even you) have created one, and technically speaking bookish problems could be a meme if both Glass and I had time for organizing stuff.

But here is my story. When I joined Glass here at Ja čitam, a ti? I started doing different memes to the point where I didn't have space to post reviews because of them. I knew then that it was time to cut out some and I did that. So today we actually do only two. First one which we've been doing for a really long time is Waiting on Wednesday.

That one is also my favorite as I love seeing these posts and adding new books to my TBR list. It's always interesting to see some books you might have missed and this is a really cool way to catch up with new releases. Making them is quite fun too. Glass and I are always checking each other picks and commenting on them. Making plans for buddy reads and so on.

The second meme we do here is The Sunday Post. This one is something we started doing later on but it helped us a lot. Now it's easier for us to organize everything and by the Saturday night we have posts ready and scheduled for the whole next week. It saves you the trouble and you can freely enjoy and read all week long. It helped me organize my reads too as I usually read arcs and review copies in advance.

So that would be our memes! Tell us about yours! Which ones are your favorite and why??

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems #20 - Review Requests

Hiya! Well, I know it's been a while since we posted one of these, but you know holidays and you know exams and that thing called life. But also I really wanted to do one of these, but simply had no ideas. So I got one, finally!

Today I'd like to mention something called review request. I'm sure you have got plenty of these and you know how they go and I have seen quite a lot posts about rude requests and authors. This is something I have no experience with so I won't go there.

Here is the other thing that rather confuses me. While I do get a lot of review request some of them I simply have no time to accept and sadly I have to say no. I must say that I hate doing it, as I know we can help those self published authors a lot, but I do accept a lot and then get really pilled in with plenty of books and it's always a chaos. 

But one thing I always do while saying no is offer those authors different type of posts, or how we called them Spotlight Posts! And surprise surprise, a really small number of them accepts this! I wonder why?! 

I do know it's not the same, but honestly it's something. I mean you don't lose anything. Or am I just not seeing things right. 

Enlighten me! Have you had such experience? Share your thoughts even if you did not! I love reading them! 

Love, 

Bookish Problems #19 - Spread Love, Not War

Hiya! Well, I know it's been a while since we posted one of these, but you know holidays and brain goes off. Anyhow this one won't be much of a huge discussion post but rather support one. So here is the story...

Last week, while stalking checking other blogs I noticed one post that really got my attention. You already know Jeann and her blog Happy Indulgence and well I saw this post and then show it to Glass and we both agreed with her. (I know I'm blabbing, but you know dramatic setting) Anyhow post was about wars that happen every now and then in our little world.

Here is the Chatterbox post: Spread Love, Not War 

I don't think there is much to add to Jeann's words, but to completely agree with them. It's a community which should spread the most love, same as books do. So don't turn this into something it was never meant to be.

Yes! There will always be JEALOUSY! It's a fact and who wouldn't get jealous when sees the amazing hauls and recap posts! There will always be STRUGGLE! You will sometimes want to give up as you work hard, but it seems to you that no one recognize your hard-work. WE DO!

That's the bottom line of this, WE DO! We as the community will always support and be there for each other. Just remember all the FRIENDS you met while blogging. All DISCUSSIONS you were part of. All amazing REVIEWS you've read. All amazing COMMENTS that you've got and that you gave.

So SPREAD LOVE, NOT WAR! TODAY, TOMORROW AND ALWAYS! 

Spreading love,

Bookish Problems #18 - Do we have to love every book?

Hiya. So it seems like both Glass and I get inspired for these Bookish Problems as we really get to prepare one for each week. But needless to say we love all the discussions and comments coming from you! It's really great to see how different we are sometimes. 

Back on today's topic. I was reading a book recently and well half way through I just stopped and wondered should I feel something? Should I connect with the characters? Should I this, or should I that!

So the answer is I SHOULD NOT or at least not always. While being a reader you have to understand that not every book is for you and that you won't enjoy every book. And while sometimes you might be the guilty one, it doesn't always have to be you. Sometimes just the main character is not speaking to you or sometimes you just cannot get into the story and simply that book is not something you can enjoy reading. It happens and life goes on.

I have always said that angels are my favorite paranormal creatures and they are, but let me tell you something - a big number of books about angels made me scream (in a bad way). Those were the books that I could particularly swear I'd enjoy. People enjoyed them and it's angels, people angels! But niet!

Alas, what you SHOULD do is respect other people's opinion. Maybe it's that they loved it and you did not. Great! Be happy for them. Maybe you loved it, but for them there was no communication between them and the book. It's life!

Cherish with other readers all happy moments and sympathies with them all the bad ones. 

So a penny for your thoughts! Do you love some books that others don't or vice versa? SHARE! We love to hear from you! 

Kisses, 

Bookish Problems #17 - Reading Schedule: Yes or No?

      One of the problems all book bloggers are familiar with is scheduling their upcoming reads. This is something we are forced to do if we want to finish reading all our review copies on time and still find time to read something else.

      We have already talked about this topic with some of you lovely ladies, and we know that most of bloggers are doing this. But here is what I want to ask you today:

Do you ever feel like reading has become more like a job or school assignment? Does this make you enjoy it less sometimes?

       My answer is yes. I am not kind of person who loves too much pressure or boundaries. Even as a teacher I tend to change my lesson plans dozen times during the school year as soon as I feel that I have started to repeat same routines. It gets boring and uninspiring - for kids and myself. I act same way when it comes to reading. I do mark down all important dates, I keep track of publication dates, all new books (but old ones as well) that I can't wait to read and I try to come up with some sort of reading schedule. But as soon as I start to feel as if planner that is always somewhere near me, has started to rule my life, I give up on any form of scheduling. I just pick up what appeals to me in that moment.

What is your solution for this? 

Bookish Problems #16 - All About DNF

      One of the things you can read in reviews on Goodreads lately is: "DNF at 30%" (or some other percentage). Are you one of those readers?

      DNF or "did not finish" is a absolutely legitimate right of every reader  - not to finish reading a book because for some reason, we didn't like it. I have my share of DNF books, even review copies that I got from publishers and authors. Some would say that it is not okay not to finish a book that you were gifted in exchange for a review, but in the last year or two I realized that I do not have time or patience to waste my time on something that doesn't keep my attention or I have no interest in. Yes, I did learn not to request or accept books for which I know aren't my cup of tea, but still sometimes I do make a mistake. I blame it on my eagerness to help spread the word about debuts and new authors, but there were few occasions when book failed to deliver what was promised in book summary.
      I am even more sharp-tongued when it comes to the books that I bought, borrowed from library or got as Kindle freebies. Back in the days when I was still in school and, later, uni I thought that I had to finish every book. Some of those were required reads for my classes and others were not. Nowadays, I realized that I am getting to old to waste my time on the things I do not enjoy, so I feel zero guilt for not finishing something I don't like.

Fellow bookworms,

what is your opinion about DNFing books? 

Do or don't? 

Love,

Bookish Problems #15 - NetGalley vs Edelweiss

Hello dears. I got inspired for another Bookish Problems post and this is actually a question that's been coming to my mind from time to time. Please note that I'm not favoring either because I get approved there more or anything, just my view of the both.

NetGalley 

I'll start with NetGalley as I have been there longer. So, first thing that grabbed me when it comes to this site is organization and how easy it was to navigate it. Because I really tend to keep everything around me organized this was a really important thing to me. Another good thing it that you have your profile there where you can check your stats, which I couldn't find at Edelweiss. I really pay attention to this as I try to read all arcs I download so I really love that thing about NetGalley. Still archive date always works for me as it helps me organize (I'm an organization lunatic as you can see) my reads. But let's face it when it comes to YA book there are many that aren't available there. Which now leads us to Edelweiss.

Edelweiss

I resisted and avoided this site for quite some time. I had profile there for years but I started requesting books there just last spring. Main reason for that is that it's not easy to find your way there. It took me some time to get used to the site and how to find what I was looking for. You have epiphany once you get to look around and search for some books as you get a really great list of titles and some amazing books offered that you cannot find at NetGalley. I was also really surprised how easily I got approved there as I haven't been active for years. Downside is that I don't get to see my stats and this will sound weird but there is no archive (as far as I have seen). I'm always "nah, I'll read it soon" and then I end with that book on my Kindle for months.

Final verdict: Both. Yes I might be better familiar with NetGalley but Edelweiss offers some amazing books that you cannot miss. So,

So penny for your thoughts. Which one do you prefer and why? I always love to hear your opinion so share! I don't bite. Promise!

Until the next time, 

Bookish Problems #14 - Having a co-blogger

Hi darlings. As you know in our bookish problems posts we tackle some of the issues or problems that might occur in our little blogging world. Today I will share my thoughts on one of the topics that is often raised when you have a blog. 

So life gets tough sometimes, and with school, work, family, etc blogging is something that you sadly have to put aside for some time. It's hard to see something, you spend so much time and love building alone and therefore you often think about sharing it with someone else. For me, personally, this is not something I had much troubles with as Glass and I have been blogging together for years now and honestly I couldn't imagine it without her. But at the same time I understand all of you who don't want to share your blog with someone else, as it's your baby after all.

So question is - Having a co-blogger? Yes? No? Maybe? 

Well, as I said I'm a bit biased here and I'd always go for YES when it comes to this issue. It's amazing when you have someone to relay on and when you know that someone will be there to take care of everything when you cannot. For me Glass has always been there and always understood me, and I truly hope I was the same for her.

But there were times where Glass was busy with work and everything and I took care of everything. So yes we can say that even though never officially either of us "left" we had a fair share of being only bloggers here. It's not much different, but you just simply have to organize more and think more things through. But at the end, the other one was always somehow present.

At the end honestly I don't think I can imagine this blog and blogging in general without Glass. I truly hope that I'll never have to :) 

I know that finding someone to share your blog with, someone you can trust, is hard. I'm really honored that Glass trusted me and it meant so much for me as I have found my best friend for life in her after all this time. That thing will certainly never change. So you never know and maybe you'll be lucky as I was.

What are your experiences with co-blogging? Would you ever try it if you already haven't? Share! We like hearing your thoughts! 

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems #13 - Negative Reviews and One Star Ratings

Today, we are talking about writing negative reviews and rating books with one star. 

Why? 

Well, as many of you are aware, negative review can bring you: a) a lot of likes on Goodreads or b) a lot of trouble in the form of an angry author or c) a lot of attention or d) you just don't care about any of those things. 

      We are all individuals, so not every book will appeal to all readers. Even Tanja and I, no matter how in most of the cases we agree about books we both read, have our differences and from time to time we stumble upon something we rate differently. And that is absolutely fine! Everyone has a right to like or don't like his/hers recent read. I do feel sad when I see that someone hated the book that is one of my favorites, but understand why not. I appreciate when bloggers write thoughtful negative review. Sometimes it makes me think about things that never before have crossed my mind - like certain character traits, repetitive archetypes of the genre, cliches that I realize are not that good (but I still enjoy reading them).

Do we learn something from negative reviews or are we acting like Gossip Girls of the bookish community and just enjoy all the drama?  

      This is something that was bugging me after I wrote one negative, ranty review a while ago and, more lately, after everything that happened with notorious Kathleen Hale. I have never gotten so many likes for 5 stars review on Goodreads as I did for that negative one - in such a short period of time. And comments from people who are not even friends with me. I had to delete few of them because they were too mean. Not mean towards me or review, but author and her book. Truth to be told, I wasn't politest person in that review also, but I was so annoyed with some things and I just had to put it off my chest.

      That got me thinking, so I spent few days going trough one star (even some 2 stars) reviews. They have a lot of likes. A lot. Comments also. It's like being back in high school when two of my classmates realized that they were going out with the same guy and all hell broke loose. Whole school was buzzing about it for days, even teachers were gossiping and girls pulled into it our whole class making us to pick a side. Drama worthy of Selena and Blair.

Why do readers like so much negative and ranty reviews? Are we so eager to see someone fail (even if it's author)? Do we all have our inner "gossip girl"? Or is it simply in flawed human nature to be petty and gossiping creature? 

       I am not free of those sins - I do read rants and quite enjoy them if they are witty and funny. I write those kind of reviews. Not often as some other readers, but still. That is why I made a resolution to try to be more respectful in my future reviews - all of them, but especially negative ones.

Our fellow bookworms and bloggers, 

what is your opinion about ranting? Do you write negative reviews? Do you have a lot of one star ratings? 

Bookish Problems #12 - Reading Lists

      I believe that every bookworm at least once a week has problem called "What will I read next?" no matter that she or he has five books on nightstand, two somewhere in the kitchen, maybe even one in the bathroom. And don't even let me start with those we have on our e-readers.

How do you chose what to read next? 

      This is what I like to do - I make lists. A lot of them. Yes, I may have a problem, but I just love sorting trough the books I own. Sometimes I even find a book I forgot I had bought.
At the moment I have several lists, but here are the most urgent ones.

Next ARC list. As much as I love NetGalley and Edelweiss, there are days that I despise them. I click on "request" too many times and next morning I have so many new books on my Kindle, that next two years wouldn't be enough to read them all. So I made folder with advanced readers copies that will be published in next two months. When I decide that it's time to read one of the books I got, I just open thisfolder and pick something.

Next NA list. I love new adult novels and there is nothing surprising that I have this list. Older release that I plan to read or a latest Colleen Hoover novel - they are all here.

Sandra Brown / Linda Howard / Kristen Ashley list. I can never make mistake (or at least not a big one) with this three ladies. They are my safe picks that get me out even out of the worst reading slumps. And, I am completely addicted to their writing.

MC romance list. Bikers are just so.... badass! My favorite kind of antiheroes. I am anxiously waiting for the next Madeline Sheehan novel, but I will probably read Signal Bend series by Susan Fanetti before December.

Romance (adult) list. Megan Hart, Tiffany Reisz, Tarryn Fisher, Elle Aycart, Cherise Sinclair, Ella Frank... Everything from sweet love stories to erotica.

Trashy drama list. You know of those ranty reviews I post on Goodreads? Yeah... This is where they come from.

Our dear, fellow bookworms, 

please share with us how do you decide what to read next.

Love,

Bookish problems #11 - Where to order that book?

Hello ppl. Another day and surprise, surprise another bookish problems post. I'm quite sure that I lost that problems part somewhere in the process but I guess you all pretty much understand that this is basically a discussion post. I have got another discussion today and it's about book ordering. 

So, when you have a resourceful friend like Zemira as your bestie, your life can be really easy. Trust me that girl really knows how to find what you need and how to find it cheap, which is how we like our books, because that usually means we can order one more. Therefore I'll now present you some sites where you can order books, and which I used. Side note I won't mention Amazon here, as really there is no need to. You know more about it then I do, anyway. Also you might notice that there is no Barnes and Noble on the list, but that's because I have never actually used it.

The Book Depository

I won't say much about this one as it's really wildly known. It's really an amazing site (it used to be more amazing but well economy is not our best friend) and what is the most amazing thing about it is that you get free worldwide shipping. Most of my books came from this site and I have never got any of my books lost or really damaged. When I said it was more amazing in the past it's because it used to be a lot cheaper. Now the problem is that pre-order discounts are low and book prices are sometimes really high. But still it offers most of the books you are looking for and it arrives at your doorstep really quick.

AwesomeBooks 

Honestly, I have no idea how familiar are you with this site, but it's actually quite new site which offers you amazing prices for used or new books. They have really great discounts for used books and often you can find HCs for little over $4, and please note that most of the books are in a really good condition. Heck, my Eon seems like new without any damages or missing pages. Even the dust jacket is in prefect condition. PBs usually have that line on their spine but that's normal to appear after reading a book. This site is not without flaw however. Its flaw lays in shipping. Which is not much but still is there. But you all lucky people from the UK still have free shipping and you go and enjoy it.

BetterWorldBooks 

When I said cheap in at the beginning of the post you should understand that it usually means used books. BWB is yet another amazing site which offers you both used and new books, where used books sometimes even have hilarious prices. You can find perfectly preserved books for little money. The price may vary, but you people at the USA get them really cheap. Once again use it!

Now I wonder have you ever used any of these? What are your thoughts about them? Do you have any others to share? If yes, then please do so! 

Best,

*I do not owe any of the pictures and all were taken from the sites. You can find links in the site titles where are sources of the pictures.

Bookish Problems #10 - Reading and music

Greetings all. While writing an review last week I started thinking about this question and actually problem for me. I have met many people who like to listen to music while reading or studying and I've always admired them. My brain seems to lose it when I try to do both simultaneously. 

Paying attention to words (but which ones?).

       However, I do love both and I don't think I can imagine my life without any of the two so why cannot I combine them. The answer is really simple. While listening to music I can't focus on the words if there is some lyrics in the song. I either sing it or try to understand and catch all the words. I lost track of the story and I need to reread that part again. I don't need complete silence though. I live in the city where there is always some noise and I got used to it so it's not really bothering me. But I do like to read with my TV and music player off.

But writing and music 

      Well this is another story altogether. While writing posts and reviews I noticed that I usually do that with some background music. There is a catch of course. I listen to classical music while doing this. Now, don't give me weird looks and no I'm not such geek (even though Zemira probably considers me the biggest geek in the Geekdom), but classical music rarely (if ever) has words and all those soothing and melodic pieces really give me inspiration. However, I really don't know all Beethoven's or Mozart's pieces by heart and I probably never will. There are rarely ever on my playlist. But there is one piece that I truly love and listen often. Its by an amazing violinist Itzhak Perlman.

What about you - music or not? If yes, please share your magical powers with me and teach me how to train my brain to process both?  

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems #9 - It's Saturday? Already?

Hello darlings. We didn't do a bookish problems post in a while and today while emailing with Glass I realized that I actually have a problem we should discuss. This "little" issue is something you are at some point faced with - organization.

I know that we're all different and that some of us work better in complete chaos while others, like me, need things neat and organized. Therefore I'll share some things I do and how I organize myself and what helps me to keep everything up to date.

1. Planner

As simple as that. I think that it'll really help you organize everything. When you have ARCs requested that should be read and reviewed by certain date, plus more blog tours to schedule, with some cover reveals and all that you've got library books and what not. It's pretty chaotic to think of all that so the best way for me is to have everything written that in my little planner (which by the way is a gift from my dearest Glass) and I have no problems with dates.

2. The Sunday Post 

Now this leads us to the source of my title. So The Sunday Post is something that helped us organize even better. It is pretty chaotic every Saturday when we're constantly emailing each other to see what should we post and when we have posts due, but it also helps you get rid of all the headaches during the week. We already have everything planned and scheduled so we can take care of books and other things.

3. Use inspiration while you have it 

Basically don't be lazy and leave everything for later, as you'll regret it. I have done this many times and regretted it every single time. There are days when I feel like writing reviews and words are just coming and sentences creating in your brain - USE THAT TIME. Sit down and write as many reviews or post as can or feel like. There will be moments when you have post to publish tomorrow and your brain is tabula rasa. It's stressful and we don't want blogging to be that.
So a post a day, keeps headaches away.

How do you organize your readings and posts? Share your tips and who knows maybe I'll start using them. :)

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems (#8): No awkwardness found

Hi guys. I really hope you're having a great summer, or well autumn in the middle of summer like I do. Also I hope that books are keeping you good company. I know they do, but still just wanted you to hug a book you have near. 

But let's get to today's topic. Well this title is a bit misleading as it's actually not a problem, but really a solution to one. I wanted to discuss about meeting new people. I'm sure you've all been through that so let's see how it works in real and how in our bookish world.

Err...*long pause*? (*drenched in sweat*) 

You know when you're meeting someone new in real life it's usually a bit terrifying. (Okay, maybe A LOT). You are not sure what to ask or how much you should talk and when you need to stop talking. You never know if that person is shy and quiet type or just annoyed for being in that situation.
It's usually full of awkwardness and long pauses and well not a nice experience. But let's see how this works in our little bookish world.

Hey. I just met you, and this is crazy, but here is this book I really want to read, so read-a-long, maybe?

So here is this one blogger you have seen around and suddenly they comment on your blog and you go and comment back and well it goes like that for a few days and guess what - suddenly you are chit-chatting on twitter about this amazing book so why not reading it together, or on Goodread about this utterly annoying main character who you wanna slap so bad. Then you start about your day and well there you are sharing pictures of your trip with them. (hint hint) Then you go and start about movies and guess what you have agreed to an amazing Disney marathon this summer (HINT HINT).
These conversations are smooth and suddenly you wish you could just live in a bookishville with all amazing bookish people and have an amazing bookish community.

Reasons for this behavior may vary, but in fact it's easier to talk and connect with someone on Internet and especially with people that have the same interests as you do.

So next time you go through this overrated everyday life and you are to meet someone new, ask them what's their favorite book (If they don't read, just turn around and leave. I'm serious - JUST LEAVE) or who's their favorite book boyfriend. (If they say Draco - RUN and don't look back)

I've meet a lot of of you and trust me you ALL are amazing and I'm really proud to be part of this world. This is my way of thanking you for always being there.

Stay safe and chit chat everywhere and everyday.

Bookish Problems #7: Why translations are never good enough?

Hi guys. Yet another thing that you may have heard me or some people saying, but let's discuss it a bit. It's not a strange thing to hear from people who know English that they don't read translated books. I'm one of them and I actually don't remember when was the last time I read a translated book. Here is why.

1. Translating for the sake of being translated

You all foreign speaking people know how translation turns out when you put it in Google Translate. Then I might tell you that sometimes our translations aren't any better. The main problem is that whoever translates books doesn't pay attention to syntax. Our language has a very different syntax than English but usually translations seems like words in our, but syntax in English language. It's not natural for any native speaker.

2. You win something, but you lose a lot 

This is something I really cannot always blame translators for. Simply the author is the one who created the world and put all emotions in it, so if you don't feel them you cannot translate them. I strongly believe that people who translate things need to have a gift for writing as those two things are intertwined.

3. It's always about the business 

Sadly as most of the things today, translating is all about money. To hire a translator is really expensive and it should be that way, but publishers always want to save some money, so people who are hired for this job aren't skilled for it. After almost four years of doing translation at my classes it's a job I'd never do. I don't have patience and gift for that, so you better acknowledge that before you ruin books for others.

I don't want this to be only talk here is a title that has been translated and which makes me wanna pull my hair off.

It is for a story I really liked - Me Before You by Jojo Mojes. Well the problem is with the title here, as someone has translated it with "Tu sam pred tobom" which would be I'm here in front of you, while anyone who has read the story knows that the title actually refers to the time before she met him. It's not nearly the same thing.

Have you ever read a bad translation? Care to share your thoughts about it?

Happy reading,