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Why You’ll Want to Read my Book Reviews and (Hopefully) Discuss Them With me

I love books. New or unreleased, I want to write about genres my readers are interested in.

Writing a good (read: influential) book review is not easy. Like any type of writing, it is something you get better and better at over time.

I work in a bookstore. I’d know. I’ve also written bad book reviews. I’d know.

So what makes for a bad book review? From trial and error, I would say just boasting about how much you loved the book without offering real substance into it. It is more than just naming a few parts of the book you liked and saying you would recommend it to a friend.

Whether it is on the internet or in person, you have to really grasp what the selling point of that particular book is. You need to understand what audience it is geared towards and why someone from that particular audience would want to read it. What makes it stand out? How does it connect with the audience?

As for what types of books I will be reviewing, tell me what you want to see. I already know what I want to read and discuss, but I would love to hear about what the audience wants to get my take on. I’m open to most genres, plus, I love expanding my library. If it is an unreleased title, let me know! I will see if I can get my hands on it but there are no guarantees.

So what genres do I enjoy? Particularly, Young Adult (YA) and Modern Romance. I have been venturing out of these two genres lately into more general Fiction (some of what you may call Women’s Fiction). However, aside from Horror, I will read pretty much anything. I will definitely be reviewing my favorite books (I have a top three) so expect to hear about books I love.

The same rules apply for particular authors. If there is someone you’re passionate about and want to share, let me know.

I will be reviewing both unreleased (ARCs) and already published books. I will try to discuss unreleased books closer to their release date if possible, but I will note the release date or maybe bump the post closer to it’s release.

Do not let any of this mistake you. I am not a professional reviewer. I get carried away on my Goodreads sometimes and end up yelling excitedly in my reviews. But, I’ve done my research. I’ve gone back and tweaked reviews after I’ve written them. I try to be especially mindful when reviewing ARCs as it is people’s first impressions of the book, so I want to be as descriptive as possible without giving away spoilers.

I want to gear my reviews to my audience. So I can bring you closer to new authors and books, and bring new authors and books closer to you.

If you want me to review your book, drop a comment and let me know. I’m open and interested in supporting all types of authors. If your book is on Edelweiss or Netgalley, let me know!

If you’re interested in seeing what I read or what interests me, I’ve linked my Goodreads on my main page and here. Feel free to add me as well.

Week 1 – What I’m Listening to This Week

I thought it would be fun to share what I’m listening to weekly, with a link to a Spotify playlist (which will be updated weekly as well) if anyone is in the mood.

  • Criminal – State Champs
  • I’m Every Woman – Chaka Khan
  • boyfriend (with Social House) – Ariana Grande
  • Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey) – BTS
  • You’re Still the One – Shania Twain
  • Easier – Live from the Vault – 5 Seconds of Summer
  • Love Me Lsss (feat. Quinn XCII) – MAX
  • Beer Can’t Fix (feat. Jon Pardi) – Thomas Rhett
  • Shine – Brother Leo
  • You’re so Vain – Carly Simon
  • Tattooed On My Heart – Bishop Briggs
  • You Say – Lauren Daigle
  • Star Of The Show – Thomas Rhett
  • How Will I Know – Whitney Houston
  • Slow Burn – State Champs
  • If I Can’t Have You – Shawn Mendes

My music choices are always kind of influenced by what is going on that week, who announced a tour, or what just pops up in a fun Spotify playlist I’m listening to.

State Champs announced a tour this week, so they’ve been on my radar a lot. (If you like Simple Plan or We the Kings, they’re going on tour with them too, so go see them!)

I listen to a very weird mix of stuff. I’m sorry. If you’re looking for different stuff, however, then maybe this is the mix for you! Otherwise, pick a song or two out of the list and give them a listen. Pop a comment down below and tell me what you’re listening to!

I Am Very Busy.

Time, time, time

That’s what my planner tells me every time I look at it. “Gianna, you are really busy today. I don’t even know what day of the week it is, but I know you’re busy.”

(My planner doesn’t actually talk to me. I may be running on E some days but its not that bad).

Every time I look at it it reminds me I have oh so many things to do. I go from work to work to sleep to work to work to sleep and sometimes stop for a scheduled social interaction in between. (Too many social interactions but simultaneously, not enough.)

Don’t get me wrong. I love both of my jobs. And my family. And my friends. But I also love myself. And doing things that involve just me, myself, and I (maybe my cat, if she’s nice to me that day). If time has taught me anything, it is that I need to remember to make time for myself. I tend to get caught up in work and what I think I need to do for other people. It’s too often that I have to remind myself to do what’s good for me. Which brings us here.

Why am I here?

WordPress, God bless them, offers some questions to get a blogger started on their introduction post. One of them asks why I decided to blog publicly rather than keeping a journal. For starters, my handwriting is absolute garbage. But, aside from my inability to hold a pen correctly, I love connecting with other people.

So much can be learned from each other if we choose to connect properly. My goal for this blog is to take some deep breaths, get a number of my many thoughts out of my head in a intelligible way, and to connect with and learn from other people.

In particular, there are a few ways I’d like to express my thoughts on this blog:

  • Book or movie discussion and review
  • New discoveries I’ve made and new things I’ve learned
  • Something that made me happy
  • Pictures of my cat (you’ll thank me)
  • Quotes and discussion
  • What I’m listening to
  • In any other way that I see fit at the moment

I came up with the “happy daze” term when I was doing my #100happydays. (If you don’t know what that is, check out 100happydays.com.) This was one of the many techniques I used as a way to keep myself grounded and focused during my busy day to day activities. I am happy to say I was successful at it. I will probably share a few of my favorites on here.

I did my 100 days. I discovered I had a lot more to say in those posts than I thought. Not just about my day, but thoughts I had along the way throughout my day. So that’s probably why I ended up here.

While most people would probably not see a daze as a good thing, I think placing the word “happy” before it changes its meaning a bit. To be in a happy daze would mean my brain is clouded by happiness; I am lost in the good things. Thus, that would make this blog my place to just zone out for a bit and focus on some fun joyous things. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as I come back to reality.

With that in mind, I leave all -2 of you reading this with some food for thought from @thefemalehustlers on Instagram:

“Easy to spot a yellow car when you are always thinking of a yellow car.
Easy to spot opportunity when you are always thinking of opportunity.
Easy to spot reasons to be mad when you are always thinking of being mad.
You become what you constantly think about.
Watch yourself.”

Now, meet me