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TO BE (RE)READ…

As a book blogger, I read a lot of books: The many I buy in book stores, as well as the titles I’m lucky enough to be sent from publishers for review. But, as blogging schedules, deadlines and looming TBR piles have gotten more and more daunting, what I read can sometimes be a little restricted. Don’t get me wrong – I adore book blogging, and love & appreciate every aspect of it. What I read is always diverse and unique (Every new book is always a different genre). However, there are times when I look at my bookshelves and spot a title I loved recently, or a very old book I loved a long time ago. I’ll often pick the book up, reread the blurb, and maybe flick to a short scene I remember to be particularly memorable. I’ll read a short part then think to myself, I’d love to revisit these characters. 

But, nine times out of ten, I put that title back and go to my TBR pile for my next read.

As much as I’m eager to delve into a fictional worlds I haven’t experience yet, I also find myself often wanting to revisit fictional worlds I’ve loved in the past. Therefore, for every ten books or so that I read from now on, I’d like to take an old favourite and reread it! As fun & challenging as reading to keep up with reviewing can be (which hasn’t been that frequent thanks to hectic coursework things!), rereading will be so fun (and a little nostalgic in cases…) and I’m sure it’ll cure the frequent reading slumps too!

Here’s a list of the top ten books I’d like to reread soon:

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#1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

There’s not really a need to explain this one! I grew up with Harry Potter, but the last time I ever read the series was when The Deathly Hallows was released… I can’t believe that was just over seven years ago. I would love to reread the series, or at least the first book.

#2: Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

I can recall reading Northern Lights when I was a lot younger, in primary school, but I can’t remember any of the plot now – though I remember it being a completely beautiful book. I came across my old toys of the movie characters a while ago, and they reminded me how I should definitely revisit the story!

#3: Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda is just one of the many Roald Dahl books I would love to reread again – I was reminded of how magical his books were when I visited the Roald Dahl Museum again over the summer holidays. I just picked Matilda for this list, because it was definitely the main Dahl book that started my love of reading.

#4: The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

I can’t remember when and how, but recently the Magic Faraway Tree books came up in a conversation and I instantly flew back, in my head, to when my dad used to read these to Six-Year-Old-Me. I really adored them and I would love to reread at least one short story!

#5: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

As a primary school student, I accidentally picked up my first obsession when I bought Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I wish there was a fandom for this book. *Scours Tumblr* I’m sure I destroyed the spine of my copy when I read it over and over again between ages seven and eleven. I can’t find it anywhere though, which is sad! As soon as I find my copy I’m definite I’ll be making time for it.IMG_2395

#6: Paper Towns by John Green

John Green’s books are – I’m sure most will agree – genius. Paper Towns ties with TFiOS when it comes to picking a favourite of his books. As I’ve been getting really excited about the Paper Towns movie, seeing all of the set pictures online, I found myself tempted to go back and read the book. I’m sure I will before the movie is out!

#8: The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan

Another Levithan title, also read very recently! This is on the list because it’s not only a book I want to go back to again, but it’s also probably the easiest to because it’s split into short pieces, each from a different character’s perspective. It was really poetic and moving – in fact, I’ve been rereading passages and pages recently.

#7: Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day is one of the most recently read books on this list; I read it in July. Levithan’s my favourite author at the moment, I think, and that was definitely decided after I finished reading Every Day. As soon as I closed the book, I wanted to start again.  I’m not sure rereading Every Day will give me the same experience as reading it for the first time did, but it was a truly phenomenal book and I just want to revisit A so badly!IMG_2397

#9: Marvel’s The Runaways (Vol. 1)

The Runaways is a graphic novel series that I’ve raved about quite a few times on this blog. I just loved it so much! Though I haven’t actually finished the whole series (I think I’m missing two volumes) I would like to read the first volume again. To help cope with my feelings. Because I’m still crying over the most recent volume I read.

#10: Sailor Moon (Vol. 1) by Naoko Takeuchi

Between the ages of ten and twelve, I went through a kind of “manga” pghase – I was totally obsessed with drawing, manga style, and reading manga series including Sailor Moon. Naoko Takeuchi’s books are still an all-time favourite manga, though I haven’t read them in ages. With the recent release of Sailor Moon Crystal, I’d like to reread the original Sailor Moon books, then maybe try the new series!

Wow, that was unexpectedly a very long, rambling post… What books would you like to reread soon?

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Bookish Careers…

This post is about all the career options I’d love to do when I’m older. All bookish, of course!

I never really write very personal posts on my blog. However, I thought I’d write this, as it does quite largely link in to Why I Blog, too. The main reason I started a blog was because I liked sharing opinions on books and writing reviews, though I also thought it would be a good way of getting a little bit of work experience, too. Through blogging, I’ve gotten to meet lots of publicists and authors! I’ve always wanted to be a writer since… I can’t even remember when. I still have the most embarrassing stories written from when I was younger… E.G., this thing about a fairy party with a gate-crashing alien.

theauthorsI still definitely want to be a writer! I’m actually writing a bit less frequently now, as I’m reading more and blogging more. Also, obviously, Twitter. Which I blame for all my procrastinating. Though, I have a short novella that I wrote for NaNoWriMo a while ago which I’m hoping to make longer and edit very soon- as well as a thriller I’m planning too.

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Through blogging, though, I’ve also had so many more ideas of jobs I’d love to do that are bookish. I write at least two reviews a week, and I really love doing it! I’ve found so many book magazines that I didn’t know existed- like Newbooks, and We Love This Book. I think it would be really fun to be a book critic for a magazine, too, or to be a journalist for a literary magazine of sorts! Thanks to Dad, I’ve started doing that, though not as a paid job yet… Most weeks, I have a little book review space in our local paper. It would be really great to do that for a living, right? Blogging’s the perfect experience for it, too!

Lastly, I’d love to work in a publishing company- actually being a part of the process that gets books on the shelves in stores. I’d never actually considered it until I went to my first blogger’s event, which was at the Hot Key Books offices. That was one of the first times I got to meet people working in publishing, and see behind the scenes, in a way. I think that brunch was probably the decider for me! I got really interested in working as an editor, or in marketing and publicity… It seems like a really fun job!

Or if not working on the content or spreading the word about a book, I’d really love to take part in designing book covers or illustrating books. I enjoy drawing a lot, and I like making things digitally- like the review-graphics I sometimes publish on here- even if that’s only fiddling around with photo editors I find online…  Another link to Hot Key here- on their blog recently they’ve posted some design processes for their books. This one’s by Jan Bielecki, and goes through the design for Ellen Renner’s Tribute. And this post is about the illustrations by Isobel for the Isobel Journal. I really loved reading those, and they’ve gotten me even more interested about that kind of job!

So, that’s a summary of all the jobs I’d really love to do. I hope you enjoyed that post! If you’re a blogger especially or generally just a bookish person- would you go into the same kinds of careers, or what else? I’d love to know! (: