Reading Rambles {3}: Are You A Reading Procrastinator?

Reading Rambles is a sporadic feature in which I ramble about all things bookish and ask you to join in on the discussion.

Today's Ramble:

After nearly two weeks of putting off reading Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor, despite the fact that I was dying to know what would happen next, I've discovered something about myself: I am a horrible reading procrastinator. It's a real problem! As much as I want to read this book, I just keep finding excuses to put it off. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I do this more often than I originally thought. I'm curious to see if this is just me, or if you all struggle with reading procrastination too. 

Not sure if you're a reading procrastinator? Here's a short list to help you figure it out.

• Do you ever get to a point in a book when you know something horrible is going to happen and you're just not mentally or emotionally prepared to deal with it, so you have to stop, put the book down, and take a breather (which can last anywhere from a few days to a few months)?

• Do you put off reading a series of books until you have time to read them all in one go (even though this will probably never happen)?

• Do you tell yourself you'll read before bed but then end up going right to sleep because you're either too exhausted or know that if you start reading now you'll be up until the break of dawn with the phrase "Just one more chapter..." repeating in your head like a mantra?

• Do you ever feel like your TBR pile is staring at you? Do you find excuses to ignore it, such as, "Oh, my room is a mess! I can't possibly start reading until I've cleaned it up a bit!" Or, "Now feels like a good time to check the 50+ unread e-mails in my inbox." Or, "I think I'll go change the layout of my blog for the hundredth time this month."

• Do you find yourself reading reviews, watching YouTube videos, or scrolling through Pinterest and Tumblr looking for posts about the very book you're not reading, when you could be spending that time actually reading it?

• Have you ever checked out and/or bought books despite your already overflowing TBR pile?

If you said yes to any of the above, you, my friend, may be a reading procrastinator. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll get around to reading all those books.

Eventually.

Reading Rambles {2}: Booktube

Reading Rambles is a sporadic feature in which I ramble about all things bookish and ask you to join in on the discussion.

Today's Ramble:
Booktube

For those of you who don't know, Booktube is the name coined by the book vlogging community of on YouTube. It's thanks to Booktube that I really began to take my book blogging seriously. Before making Life in the Pages, I tried my hand at vlogging, recording some book hauls and meme response videos but they all turned out horrendously. I don't know what happens, but as soon as I hit "record" on my camera, my mind goes blank and I turn into a rambling, incoherent mess. I've come to accept the fact that I was not meant to be a vlogger. Blogging is so much easier.

When it comes to watching Booktube, I have three favorite kinds of videos: book hauls, memes/surveys, and bookshelf tours. I think Tasha of Tashapolis said it best when she explained why she loves book haul videos: it's like watching someone open a gift on Christmas--you get to experience the excitement with them! Book hauls are also fun because I love to see pretty book covers. :) Meme and survey videos are my second favorite kind of video on Booktube because, as I've mentioned before on the blog, I love filling out memes and taking quizzes and surveys, and if they're book-themed, then I'm in heaven! Finally, there are the bookshelf tours. I'm always curious to see all the different types of books people have and how they organize and decorate their shelves. It inspires me to be more creative with my own.

Favorite Booktubers

Books and Quills, a channel run by a girl from the Netherlands named Sanne, is not only my favorite booktube channel but probably my favorite YouTube channel, period. Sanne's videos are always well thought out, fun, and just pretty to watch (I feel bad saying this, but camera quality really matters when making YT vids). She also makes videos with great advice about breaking into and working in the publishing industy.

 Being my second favorite booktuber, what first drew me to Cassidy's channel was a little video called "Let Me Love Twilight." It was so satisfying to hear someone from the Twilight fandom speak out against all the hate in a thoughtful way. It's worth watching whether you're a fan of the books or not; the take away is basically, if you don't like a particular book/movie/TV show/etc, that's perfectly fine; just don't be a jerk about it.

If you do not watch PolandBananasBooks, you really need to add this channel to your to-watch list. Christine's videos are hilarious and full of enthusiastic fangirling!

I think I found Peruse Project through Christine's channel, and in a lot of ways Reagan's videos remind of PolandBananasBooks. The facial expressions and voices this girl makes crack me up!

The Readables, run by a graphic designer named Priscilla, is another one of my favorites because it features such pretty videos! I love how she always includes a pop-up within the video with information about the book she is discussing. Priscilla also has a very cool blog that you should check out, featuring printable designs for booktubers and bloggers.

Kat of Katytastic is another Booktuber with hilarious and entertaining book vlogs. Plus, she has one of the most awesome book collections I've ever seen (so jealous of all those bookshelves!).

Tashapolis is my latest Booktube discovery and I love her videos so much!

So tell me: do you watch Booktube? Who are you favorite vloggers? Do you have a channel of your own you'd like to share?

Reading Rambles {1}: A Serie(ous) Problem

RReading Rambles is a sporadic feature in which I ramble about all things bookish and ask you to join in on the discussion.

Today's Ramble: A Serie(ous) Problem

(Excuse the punny topic title. I couldn't resist. :) Now, on to business.)

Lately I've been faced with a bit of a problem when it comes to reading: I'm finding it harder and harder to finish the multiple book series I've started. Surely I'm not the only one. With just about every YA story being published in a series of three or more books, it can get pretty overwhelming to stay up to speed with them all. And all the releases this year are just making it even harder: Cassie Clare and Laini Taylor's series are both coming to an end this spring, and Sarah J. Maas's next Throne of Glass installment is due out in the fall (just in time for my birthday! Lucky me!).

In some cases it's been years since I've read the earlier installments in a series, so I like to refresh my memory by rereading all the books that are already out before reading the newest book. This is especially important when a series has a long, complicated plot, like Harry Potter or The Mortal Instruments. It can be really fun to go back and pick up on little things I missed on the first or second read. But rereading takes time and it can get a little boring when I reach parts of the book that I didn't like the first time around. And it's when I get to those less interesting parts that all the other unread books on my shelf and TBR list start beckoning. Then I'm faced with the dilemma of how I want to spend my precious reading time--reading a book I've already read or one that's entirely new and exciting to me?

Look at these poor neglected books. I've only made it as far as City of Glass.

With some series, I'm questioning whether or not I even want to finish them. Take the Divergent series, for example. It's been a couple of years since I first read the book. I enjoyed it at the time and even bought Insurgent when it came out, yet there it sits on my shelf a year and a half later, still unread. And after the uproar over Allegiant, I did something I rarely do--I read the spoilers. I needed to know what could possibly have the whole fandom up in arms and, if it was really that bad, if I wanted to continue the series. Now that I know the major spoiler, it's definitely changed my feelings on finishing the series. Right now, I feel like I'm not going to continue, which has left me with feelings of book guilt. I know that I liked the first book and I already own the second book, so in a way I feel like I owe it to myself and to Veronica Roth to at least give Insurgent a try. But on the other hand, I don't know if I really want to put myself through all the emotional turmoil now that I already now how the series ends. Decisions, decisions.

Now I want to know: Do you have trouble keeping up with multiple book series? Do you like to reread older books in a series before reading the next installment? What are some installments/series enders you're most looking forward to in 2014? Are there any that you have given up on?