Tag: Discussion Meme

Let’s Talk Bookish: Romance as a Sub-Plot

Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books  & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! I’ve listed the upcoming topics in brief at the end of my post, but check out these pages for more information on November 2020 prompts & a list of past prompts!

Now without further ado… This week’s topic asks us about:

ROMANCE AS A SUBPLOT

(SUGGESTED BY DANI)
Examples: Why do you think romance is the most common subplot? Do you think romance subplots take away from the main story, or add to it? Do you prefer stories without any romance in them? Is romance better as a subplot or as a main plot?

I love love. I might come off as a little bit cynical or jaded when it comes to love in real life, but deep down I’m truly a hopeless romantic 😂 It’s pretty obvious how much I love the romance genre because when you take a peek at my Goodreads, my read list is full of it! I feel like when it comes to romance though there are a lot of people that seem to take issue with it and don’t like it in their stories, especially when it comes to YA, but perhaps that’s because it’s always there whether it’s “needed” or not.

Why is the romance sub-plot so popular?

I never gave it much thought before and I’m not really sure why… But perhaps it’s because at one point or another romance is something that many readers can relate to whether they’ve experienced it themselves, or they’ve seen others go through that experience. Or maybe it’s also those happy and heartwarming feelings that romance brings? I think it’s also probably the easiest device for authors to use to endear readers more to their characters and to make them more realistic–although whether its well done or not is another thing!

does a romance sub-plot take away from the main story, or add to it?

As I mentioned at the start, I’m all about the love and while before I would’ve said “romance makes everything better” *cough* I now think that it really depends on the story and how well the romance is written. If written well, the romance doesn’t take away from the main story but successfully adds to the character arcs and increases the stakes (in a good way). Maybe it’s because I read a lot of YA fantasy and contemporary but I feel like, more often than not, they always have a romance sub-plot that often doesn’t feel needed. It doesn’t necessarily take away from the main story, but it also doesn’t add anything. I think it’s really easy for romance to over-take the main story though, and I’ve seen it happen quite a few times. It gets tedious when the MC ends up constantly thinking about romancing their love interest, then they start making ridiculous non-sensical decisions, the love drama gets too intense, and then it basically ends up not being fun anymore. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you prefer stories without any romance in them?

There are times that I feel the author throws in romance because it’s expected and that’s when I find myself getting frustrated with the romance sub-plot. This is especially the case when the romance feels forced or when the romance exists ‘for the sake of having romance’. So I never thought I’d say it but I’m starting to prefer stories without the romance sub-plot in them! *Gasp! I know…* That’s not to say I won’t read fantasies or other genres without romance in them, but it’s also okay for those stories to just be fantasy or historical without romance. That said…

romance as the main plot for the win!

Let’s be real, I’m still all about the romance. I love the feel-good and heartwarming vibes that romance brings to a story. I love to swoon and giggle at the romantic (and steamy) gestures between our love interests, and I don’t think any of that’s gonna change anytime soon. But if I do go looking for romance, I’m going to seek it out in stories where romance is the main plot, whether it’s historical romance, contemporary romance, or romantic fantasy, because too often lately the romance sub-plot leaves me feeling more than a little “meh”.

So, what do you think? Is the romance sub-plot a yay or nay for you? Do you think it takes away from the main story? Do you prefer your stories without romance in them? Keen to hear your thoughts!

Let’s Talk Bookish: What is the meaning of diverse books?

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books  & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! I’ve listed the upcoming topics in brief at the end of my post, but check out these pages for more information on October 2020 prompts & a list of past prompts!

Now without further ado… This week’s topic asks us about:

what is the meaning of diverse books?

(SUGGESTED BY RUKKY)
Examples: We talk a lot about diverse books and reads, but what really makes a book diverse? Are books written by authors or about characters from Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Ukraine, Hungary, etc) considered diverse? Would you consider a book set in Spain about a Spanish main character diverse? Why or why not? Does diverse mean characters or authors from South America, Asia, and Africa, or from different religious, sexual, ability, etc backgrounds only?

This is a great question and very relevant topic as more readers continue to look for diverse books, and as more diverse books also get published. I’ve been trying to consciously diversify my reads for a while now and 2020 has been my most successful year doing that! I’m a little intimidated about answering this week’s prompt because I think there are quite a few layers to the topic, and I don’t feel comfortable going too in-depth as I’m not that “knowledgeable” about it. But this post is about sharing my thoughts, so I will do that and hopefully I make some sense and don’t come off as (too) uniformed or ridiculous!

defining diversity

Diversity (noun)
: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements : VARIETY
especially : the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization.

: an instance of being composed of differing elements or qualities

Diversity as defined by Merriam-Webster

HOW DO I CLASSIFY DIVERSE BOOKS?

When I think about diverse books, I immediately think of stories with characters who are marginalized, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQ+. Or are written by authors of colour or LGBTQ+. I also count books that have representation for different religions, ethnicities, mental health, disability, and chronic illness (among other topics) as diverse too. However, I only classify books as diverse when:

  • The main characters are BIPOC/LGBTQ+. I don’t consider it diverse when you have one or a few side characters that fall into these ‘categories’ but are barely represented. But I don’t consider stories written by authors of colour or LGBTQ+ authors as diverse if the story focuses on mainstream “straight and white” characters.
  • Same as above, the rep should concern or be focused on the main character(s) and is not used or identified as a minor sub-plot or anything like that.

is there a line and where do we draw it?

This prompt included a few guiding questions that really made me think whether I would classify certain reads as diverse. For example, if I read a book about Eastern Europe, is that considered diverse? I think if it’s set there and the story is about a straight white character, then no, I wouldn’t. But what if it’s about religion or ethnicity—would I consider it diverse then? I think I probably would because it includes people from different backgrounds. What about a book set in Spain with a Spanish cast—is that diverse? It made me think about a book I read earlier this year called Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova. It’s set during the Spanish inquisition period but in an alternate reality, and I considered it diverse because Cordova is AOC and the characters, including the MC, were diverse.

As I write this I realise that perhaps how I consider books diverse is pretty simplistic? But ultimately, I do think it’s subjective because I don’t believe diversity can be so neatly packaged into a box where it means exactly the same thing for everybody. There are many factors to consider, including our individual backgrounds and experiences, and it also depends on the book/author too.

Is it enough to consider a book diverse if it teaches you about different people, cultures, etc.? Is it enough to consider it diverse if it broadens your world view?

Sorry, I know I haven’t really answered anything in this post and it’s mostly just a bunch of brain blah and word vom that I’m not even sure makes any sense–but it has definitely got me thinking!

Now I’m really curious to know what you think. What makes a book diverse in your opinion? Do you think it’s a strict definition or do you think it’s subjective? I’m keen to know your thoughts if you’d like to share them with me!

Let’s Talk Bookish: The Care and Keeping of a TBR!

Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

I know I’m posting a bit later than Friday, but better late than never? Maybe?

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books  & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we get to discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! I’ve listed the upcoming topics in brief at the end of my post, but check out these pages for more information on October 2020 prompts & a list of past prompts!

Now without further ado… This week’s topic asks us about:

The care and keeping of a tbr

(SUGGESTED BY LYDIA @ LYDIA SCHOCH)
Examples: Do you maintain a TBR physically, online or both? How do you decide which books get to go on your TBR? Do you ever “prune” your TBR to remove old books, how do you decide who stays and who goes? How big is your TBR currently?

WELCOME TO TBR Mountain: LEVEL 1,165

But that gif is literally me maniacally laughing on top of TBR mountain because… My current TBR on Goodreads is currently at 1,165 books and I haven’t even counted my actual TBR.

*takes a second to pause*

👀 👀 👀

*by the way, if anyone wants to be friends on Goodreads you can find me HERE!*

WHERE DO I KEEP A TBR?

GOODREADS

So we already know I keep a TBR on Goodreads and that’s probably my most complete list. Although I first signed up for it in 2012, I only started using it properly in 2018. I did make my way onto the site now and again before then but I guess the majority of the books have been added more recently…

But let’s be clear here…

My Goodreads TBR is a combination of books that I own and books that I wish to own, so I definitely haven’t spent all the money to purchase 1K+ books. Trust, I’d be dead broke otherwise! But I still find this number on Goodreads astonishingly and embarrassingly large. You can say I have a very good relationship with the “Want to read” button. 😂

THE ACTUAL TBR (PHYSICAL + DIGITAL)

Of course, I also have my “actual” TBR with all the books I own (physically and digitally). But I don’t have a proper record of all these books so I don’t know how many still need to be read. It’s a lot easier to keep track of my physical TBR without any kind of file (most of the time) as I can see what’s on my shelves, but books on my digital TBR tend to disappear into the void until I remember them at random.

HOW DO I CHOOSE WHAT GOES ON MY TBR?

Seeing as my GR list is over 1,000 books, I guess you can say I’m not very discerning when it comes to adding to my TBR? 😂 Here’s how I usually decide:

  • I read the synopsis. If it sounds good or like something I’ll enjoy (which let’s be honest it usually does)…
  • I check which of my friends have added it to their list (if any).
  • I then check if any of them have reviewed it, then I’ll quickly skim through a review or two.
  • If no one I know has read/reviewed it, I’ll skim through the first few ratings and reviews to decide whether it’s a go or not.

It’s not an overly complicated process. My taste in books is quite eclectic and it doesn’t take much to pique my interest. Although I do mostly read YA SFF and contemporary romance, I don’t limit myself to any particular genre. A lot of people do stick to their tried and true/comfort zone genres (and that’s cool) but I quite like bouncing around because who knows where I’ll find my next favourite, right?!

going ‘down the tbr hole’

If you can believe it (which you probably can) my GR TBR last year was actually bigger than it is now. When I felt desperately in need of a way to motivate myself to cull the list, I decided to do the “Down the TBR Hole” meme on a weekly basis. For this meme, I’d look at 10-20 books on my TBR and kick off anything that didn’t sound appealing anymore or books that might still sound interesting but I know I’ll never actually buy a copy of or read anytime soon.

I admittedly struggled to kick anything off the list at first but I know realistically I won’t be able to buy all of the books, especially with even more releases piquing my interest with every year that passes. I was doing a pretty good job of shortening the TBR and managed to kick off about 250+ books (maybe even more) until I stopped doing it because I was too busy doing other things… 😬

I rally think I’ll take time to sit down at the end of 2020 (or maybe in 2021) to do a proper clean up because I know there are plenty on this list that I can get rid of, I just really need to make time to do it! My TBR feels more than a little disorganised and I definitely want to take better control of it moving forward!

How do you manage your TBR? Do you find it easy to cull books from your list? Do you get rid of physical books you don’t want to read? What do you do with the digital books you own and are no longer interested in? Curious to see how everyone manages theirs!

Let’s Talk Bookish: Reviewing Sequels

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

I’ve been seeing Let’s Talk Bookish posts around a lot over the past couple of months and for a few weeks now I’ve been wanting to join the discussions but have mostly remembered too late to post on Fridays. I know I can post on a different day but let’s just pretend that’s not me avoiding and procrastinating, right? 😉 Now the day has finally come and I’ll hopefully be joining in on the discussion posts every week moving forward! But first, a short introduction on what this is all about.

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