Guest Post Archives - Page 2 of 6

What Do You Do When You Change Your Mind On Books?

Mar 20, 2021

Hi, everyone—it’s Ely again, here for my monthly post for March! Over the last few months, over on my own blog I’ve been looking back at the books I never reviewed, rereading them and sharing my thoughts. It’s been a fun process so far, but it got me thinking about changing opinions on books after you’ve written reviews. So today I thought I’d share my thoughts and some of the things I’ve done and seen others do.

Deleting The Review

Obviously, the most dramatic technique is to just delete your review. This is probably easiest on something like Goodreads and Storygraph where you probably won’t be breaking hyperlinks or whatnot. I personally don’t use this one very often—I’m more likely to clear my star rating on GR or re-rate it. That being said, I have deleted reviews of books and authors that I no longer felt comfortable supporting.

Disclaimers

An easier option is to just add a disclaimer at the start of a review. I think this one works particularly well if you’ve changed your star rating after reading, or if the review just isn’t relevant anymore. Again, if you’re choosing not to support that book or author anymore but don’t want to delete the review for whatever reason, this might be the way.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Rewriting

This is probably the most time-consuming one on the list. I’ve done this one a few times when I’ve looked over old reviews and decided a sentence isn’t quite right or if I now see something I said in a completely different light. This can be anything from deleting a paragraph to changing the entire thing. It all depends on what you’re changing.

Leaving It

This is the most common one, I think. Sometimes you can completely change your mind about a book but completely forget about that review you wrote on it when you read it that first time. This honestly happens to me all the time and I’m only reminded if I go to look that book up or if someone likes or comments on it, whether that be on my blog or Goodreads. Most of the time I don’t have the time or energy to really look over the review and I end up just leaving it as is.

What about you—what do you do with the reviews you’ve changed your mind on? Let me know down below!

Why You Should Buddy Read | Discussion

Feb 20, 2021

Hi, everyone! It’s me, Ely from Earl Grey Books, back today with my monthly guest post for you all. Now today we’re talking about a part of the book community that Angel and I love and that’s buddy reading! If you follow one (or both) of us, then you’ve probably seen one of our buddy read discussions—last month we talked about The Midnight Lie over on my blog and we’ll be talking about Never Seduce A Scoundrel by Sabrina Jeffries in a few days time. But this post is all about sharing some of the reasons you should buddy read things.

It’s Way More Fun To Read With Friends

Angel and I do all of our buddy reads now with the purpose of creating these discussions for you all, but even with that we still share our thoughts as we’re reading just over Facebook. There’s something so fun about getting to scream about a moment in a book without your friends or to tease them about ‘just wait until you get to chapter 16’ or whatever.

It’s A Great Motivator To Finish The Book

If you’re like me and often have thirty million books on the go, buddy reading is a great way to make sure you’re actually finishing books off. If someone’s waiting for you to finish something off, you’re probably less likely to procrastinate it. In the same vein, buddy reading with Angel has made me finish off some of the books I probably would have DNFed otherwise.

Photo by Gabrielle Dickson on Unsplash

Get Things Off Your TBR

Likewise, if you’re really bad at reading the books on your TBR then just make your friend read it with you. I’ve used Angel’s help with this one many times over. Of course, it works best if you have both happen to want to get a particular book off your TBR but it can also work in a best friend picks my TBR kind of way…

Broaden Your Horizons

If you and your friend read completely different things then why not give this a go anyway and try something a little different. This can work if you like the same things as well. Maybe there’s a genre neither of you really read, or maybe you want to try a new author. There’s no better way than to get a friend to come along on the ride with you!

Photo by Angie Aguilar on Unsplash

Make New Friends

Buddy reading is also a great way to make new friends. Along with buddy reading with Angel, I’ve read books with my lovely friends Annemieke and Inge in the past as well as a handful of other friends both online and my non-book community friends too. It’s a great way to break the ice with new people—don’t know how to make small talk? That’s fine because you just have to talk about how the book is making you feel, easy conversation!

So that’s my little list today. Do you enjoy buddy reading? Let me know in the comments.

2021 Releases You Should Be Hyped For

Jan 21, 2021

Hello, it’ Ely from Earl Grey Books here with my first guest post of the year! As always, 2021 is a year filled with amazing new book releases and I’m here today to share with you someones that you might have missed but should be excited for. So without further ado…

When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris
This one is already out so you really have no excuse for not buying it—I have this one on it’s way to me now. This follows a black teenager named Jay Murphy whose older sister, Nicole, has gone missing and he is determined to find her and bring her home. You just know this is going to be heartbreaking but completely stunning just like Nic Stone and Angie Thomas. This is also Pamela N. Harris’ debut if you’re looking to join in with the Debut Authors Challenge this year!

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
I’ve been doing my best to try and hype this one up lately, so if you follow me on my blog, you’re probably going to get sick of this one pretty quickly. This is a Great Gatsby retelling but with a twist—it follows Jordan Baker instead of Gatsby or Nick, but it’s fantasy and has queer and Asian rep. I’m a complete sucker for another Great Gatsby related, and then add to the fact that Nghi Vo is an incredibly talented writer and there’s a high chance this will be one of the best books in 2021.

In Deeper Waters by F.K Lutens
I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this one. It’s out in April, but it’s being pitched as Gentlemen’s Guide meets Pirates of the Caribbean. That’s right, it’s literally gay pirates. Am I the only one intensely excited about that? It sounds like it’s just going to be a good fun romp, and honestly, I think we all deserve that in 2021.

The Ones We’re Meant To Find by Joan He
This is being pitched as a sci-fi We Were Liars, which already has me intrigued. And then the next line says, Lost with a satisfying resolution. Firstly, uh zing? And secondly, that sounds exactly like the kind of thing I desperately need in my life. The author is also saying that this is a 9/10 on the sob scale, and if you know me, then you know that it’s right up my alley.

The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell
I couldn’t put a historical romance onto this list—it would just be too off-brand for both Angel and I. The Duke Undone is probably my most anticipated, non-series continuation romance of the year—it follows Lucy who is an artist who paints the figure of a naked man she finds on the street, only that man turns out to be a Duke. Um, yes, yes, yes, yes. Give it to me now.

Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne

Rounding up this post with another one that is already out. This is being pitched as ‘a novel-in-verse about a young girl coming-of-age and stepping out of the shadow of her former best friend’. I don’t know about you, but I love a good novel-in-verse and I’ve heard literally no one talk about this. Goodreads also says this is perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, so I’m prepared for some tears with one.

And that’s the list. Have I convinced any of you to add these to your list? What books are you most excited for this year?