A Short Update: A Non-Linear Trajectory for my Blog

Hello, My dear blogger friends and readers! I hope all of you are well in this unprecedented time of crisis. I have a short update to share.

You might have noticed I have not been active in blogosphere lately. I registered my blog on WordPress seven years ago, but it was only from November 2018 that I started writing in my blog regularly.

2018-2020 was a particularly tough period for me. I had left my job to prepare for a grueling and extremely competitive Masters entrance examination. It took me two years to realize my dream. While I was struggling professionally, my blog was a means of escape for me. And books too! Where will I be if not for the books.

And Turkish series. Yup, they helped me survive too! If you have not watched a Turkish series yet, I request you to read my articles on them. There are some great Turkish series out there. Although the English translations sound cheesy, I promise you will be hooked.

• Dolunay (Bittersweet / Full Moon)
• Erkenci Kuş (Early Bird / Daydreamer)
• Bay Yanlış (Mr. Wrong)
• Aşk Laftan Anlamaz (Love does not understand words)
• İnadına Aşk (Love out of stubbornness)

After this small detour from the world of books, let us go back into it again.

By God’s grace, I am now admitted into a STEM Masters program of a prestigious university in India. However, Masters course is demanding. Very demanding! I hardly have time to breathe some days.

This, naturally, affected my blogging schedule. I used to post on Wednesdays and Saturdays. But, that was no longer possible. My blog is mostly about books. But, I have not been able to read as many books as I want. Hence, now I post once a week. Sometimes, even that is not possible.

Other than paucity of time, another factor has affected my blogging. I no longer feel that same happiness in blogging. Why? Well, growing stats is a major factor in motivating any blogger (no matter what they claim). Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, book reviews do not work well. In fact, it is my posts on Turkish series that garner most of the views on my blog. I have no shame in admitting in this.

I tried a lot of tricks in the bag to improve my stats. Joining blog tours was one of them. While I enjoyed them initially, the joy has now tapered down for me. Blog tours have not resulted in any significant improvement in my stats. As a result, reading a book and writing a review within a stipulated period of time is taking away the bliss of reading for me. So, I have decided to participate in only those book tours which will absolutely rivet my attention. I have already started doing so.

Then, there is a beast called Netgalley. A very attractive beast. But a beast it is! Once it lures you into its portal, only an extremely strong willpower can get you out of it. Though I have stopped requesting books from Netgalley (Yay, willpower!), my ratio stands at 60%. So, more ARCs to read … in time!

Moreover, as any book blogger knows, blogging is not just writing. It is also about presenting. You need to create graphics that enhance the attractiveness of your post. Writing the review itself is not easy. All of these take time. A precious commodity which, now, I do not have.

Hence, I have decided to go completely wild with my blog. I am no longer going to bind myself with compulsions of posting according to a schedule or finish reading a book within a certain date. I am going to pickup any book that fancies my mood at that time. It might be a classic or an ARC or a backlist title. My blog is not going to have a schedule, at least not for the immediate future. I may post more series or film reviews than reviews of books.

I have never written a discussion post before. This is more of a revelation-of-self post. So, I may write discussion posts in the future too.

The schedules for the book tours I have signed up for will definitely go up on time. I will try to read all the ARCs I have requested and have been approved for in the next 3-4 months. However, that’s it!

I require time to get back my joy of blogging. Till then, I request my readers to be patient with me.

Meanwhile, you can let me know in the comments below if you also experienced a similar situation. If yes, how did you overcome it?

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The Secret Recipe for Moving On by Karen Bischer – Excerpt | Blog Tour

Today, I am thrilled to share an excerpt with you from the book The Secret Recipe for Moving On by Karen Bischer.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

When Ellie is dumped by her boyfriend, she’s forced to make new friends (while watching her ex swoon over his new girlfriend) in The Secret Recipe for Moving On, a smart and funny YA debut from Karen Bischer.

Ellie Agresti’s not sure anything could be worse than being dumped by her boyfriend, Hunter, the first day of senior year.

But sharing a “life skills” class with him and his new girlfriend, Brynn? AND getting partnered with a “family” of misfits (A.J., the loudmouth; Isaiah, the horse-racing obsessive; and Luke, the tattooed stunt-biker)?

It’s a recipe for certain disaster…until an in-class competition allows Ellie to channel her angst into beating Hunter and Brynn’s team, and she unexpectedly bonds with her own group–especially Luke–in the process.

But as Ellie soon discovers, it will take more than classroom triumphs to heal her broken heart–and find herself again.

The Secret Recipe for Moving On by Karen Bischer – Excerpt | Blog Tour

Silver Dawn Afire by Sonja J. Breckon – Excerpt | Blog Tour

Today, I am thrilled to share an excerpt with you from the book Silver Dawn Afire by Sonja J. Breckon, a Young Adult, Fantasy novel. This is the first book in The Seventh Age Saga series.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Myridians are coming, each wielding one of Six Cataclysmic Powers that will lay waste to the world and wake the God of Neutrality. What happens when one refuses to succumb to her myridian nature and sets out to save the world instead?

***

SIDRA ANATOLA will soon die a human death and be reborn as one of the myridian, beings destined to destroy the World of Aetheria. In a desperate attempt to change her dark fate, she flees home and the young man she loves to seek help from a powerful entity who has lived through all the ages. But she may not make it in time before she is killed by hunters—or by the love of her life, also a myridian, who fights every day to hold onto the emotions that made him human.

BRESEIS ERISWEN was expelled from the academy and failed her father who expected her to carry on her late mother’s profession as a myridian hunter. But Breseis never wanted to be a hunter—she refused to kill, and she never believed in myridians, to begin with. She leaves home with big dreams, lacking experience, and a broken heart, to prove that she is more than a failed hunter.

Two contrasting paths converge to become a turbulent one. A mouthy intellect with a colorful personality, and a skilled warrior with a frosty attitude, put their differences aside and travel the rest of the way together, robbing temples, angering false gods, and escaping numerous predicaments with their lives. Amid the chaos, they form a friendship despite a gut feeling that both hide dangerous secrets that can save or destroy the world and each other.

Silver Dawn Afire by Sonja J. Breckon – Excerpt | Blog Tour

Thieves by Greg Jolley – Excerpt | Book Blitz

I am thrilled to share an excerpt from Thieves by Greg Jolley, which is the first book in Obscurité de Floride Trilogy.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

From Tropea, Italy to Michigan and Florida, the thieves Molly and April Danser are on the run, trying to escape from an enraged ex-US Marshal. He is hell bent on stopping them once and for all, his twisted black heart fired up for revenge and their total destruction. Will the sisters elude his blood-soaked hunt? They have their smarts and resource but have never faced a pursuit like this.

Can they somehow put an end to his blood lust?

Thieves by Greg Jolley – Book Blitz

A Conventicle of Magpies by LMR Clarke – Excerpt | Blog Tour

I am thrilled to share this amazing new book! A Conventicle of Magpies is the first book in the Bloodskills duology, and today I have an exclusive excerpt for you, and a chance to win a signed copy of the book!

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Rook is a thief, and entirely unapologetic about it as she’s determined to do anything to ensure her mother and siblings survive the squalid and dangerous streets of Stamchester.

Rook slips in and out of the homes of the ruling elite of Stamchester, the Avenish, like a shadow taking what she needs without regret.

Why should she? Had the Avenish not stolen her own people, the Saouiasei, from their own homes years before and transported them across the ocean to Stamchester to work as virtual slaves?

And, now the Avenish had no more use for Rook and her people, where they not determined to dispose of them?

The Avenish had already laid waste to a swathe of Saouiasei homes, a region which had become known as ‘The Scar’, in an attempt to drive them out?

However, Rook was not the only person hiding in the shadows. A  far more dangerous figure was haunting the filthy streets of Stamchester striking fear into Avenish and Saouiasei alike; Billy Drainer, a serial killer who not only murdered his victims but drained them of every ounce of their precious, life giving blood.

For within blood was a highly sought after commodity, the ability to enhance a persons natural abilities through the art of Bloodskill. To be faster and stronger than a normal person was something those with money were willing to pay handsomely for.

‘A Conventicle of Magpies’ is a fast-paced Gaslamp fantasy adventure set in a Victorian-inspired world. Perfect for fans of Charlie N. Holmberg’s Spellbreaker and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

A Conventicle of Magpies by LMR Clarke – Excerpt | Blog Tour

The Secret of Dartwood Manor by N.A. Triptow – Excerpt | Book Blitz

A contemporary fantasy reimagining of Jane Austen’s beloved classic, Sense and Sensibility.

Today, I have an excerpt for you all from the book The Secret of Dartwood Manor by N.A. Triptow.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Witches. Ghosts. An ancient secret. Enter a world of myth and magic through this contemporary fantasy reimagining of Jane Austen’s beloved classic, Sense and Sensibility.

The small New England town of Tarryville, Maine is steeped in history, having been settled by the Dartwood and Farris families who fled Salem during the witch trials. The Dartwood sisters, Eden, Mariah, and Melissa, unexpectedly return home after their parents are found murdered. Upon their arrival, the girls are plagued by dreams in which dark spectral beings haunt them. When the hellish creatures seem to be more than just nightmares, another mystery begins to unravel as they discover that the circumstances around the murder of their parents may be far more menacing than they appear. Frantic for answers, they must untangle the mystery of their parents’ murders and reconstruct the pieces of an ancient secret. With the help of the young assistant curator of their family museum, Baden Correia, and an estranged friend from their past, Evan Farris, the orphaned Dartwood sisters must uncover the truth before the darkness haunting their family descends upon them as well.

The Secret of Dartwood Manor by N.A. Triptow – Excerpt