Fairytale News | 5 Upcoming Fairytale Retellings.

I know I disappeared for some time – again – but I guess I just have to deal with the fact I will not be able to be a consistent blogger anymore. I've been really busy with other hobbies and taking care of the wedding, so for now I will just put up random posts when I feel like it. Today I decided it was time to bring back one of my favorite features: sharing upcoming fairytale retellings in my Fairytale News. There are many new books that will be published in 2018 and sometimes it's hard to keep track of them, so it is my pleasure to show case them! Here are the first five books:

Blanca & Roja. by Anna-Marie McLemore.
Pitched as: Snow White and Rose-Red meets Swan Lake.

Expected publication: October 9th 2018 by Feiwel & Friends
The Cerceta girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals. They know that one day, they’ll find themselves drawn into a dangerous game to determine which sister will stay a girl and which will be cursed to live as a swan. But when two of their childhood friends become drawn into the game, the curse threatens to decide the fate not just of the sisters, but of all four of them.

Extra information:
After some spy work I found this tweet from the author:
So Blanca & Roja are Latina sisters, one queer, one straight. The two boys who get drawn into the woods' magic with them are a non-binary boy & a boy adjusting to a disability. So Blanca & Roja & those 2 boys are the 4 POVs you'll see in the book. The non-binary boy uses he/him & she/her pronouns. There's also a f/f couple who are not POV characters, but who might be 2 of my favorite characters I've ever written.
You can find an excerpt on the Bustle website.

The Orphan's Wish by Melanie Dickerson.
Pitched as: Aladdin retelling.

Expected publication: June 26th 2018 by Thomas Nelson.
From the streets to an orphanage in a faraway kingdom, Aladdin has grown up alone. Until he meets Kirstyn. With a father who is the duke of Hagenheim and a mother who is the patroness of the orphanage where Aladdin lives, Kirstyn is a member of the most powerful family in the land . . . and way out of his league. Despite the difference in their stations, Aladdin quickly becomes Kirstyn’s favorite companion for taking walks in the forest, and their childhood friendship grows along with them.

Extra information:
This is the 8th book in the Hagenheim series. These are Christian historical fiction books.

The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill.
Pitched as: Feminist Little Mermaid retelling.

Expected publication: May 3rd 2018 by Scholastic.
Deep beneath the sea, off the cold Irish coast, Gaia is a young mermaid who dreams of freedom from her controlling father. On her first swim to the surface, she is drawn towards a human boy. She longs to join his carefree world, but how much will she have to sacrifice? What will it take for the little mermaid to find her voice?

Extra Information:
Here is a tweet from the author where you can read the first page!

The Queen Underneath by Stacey Filak.   

Pitched as: Loose retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

Expected publication: May 8th 2018 by Page Street.
The Above and the Under have a tenuous truce that is shattered after the death of both their respective rulers. Gemma, the new queen of Under, must throw history aside and team up with Tollan, the heir to the Above throne, in order to take down a power that seeks to rule them all.
Their group of rebels is comprised of an assassin, a sex worker, and a palace servant from Above, and we follow their unique perspectives as they are forced to question previously held beliefs. But even with war looming, romance still grows. Challenging gender roles and the expectation that every prince must have a princess, Tollan discovers love with Elam—a young man, a sex worker, and one of Gemma’s closest friends.

Extra information:
This is the blurb on the Stacey's website:
In the city-state of Yigris, a secret pact has maintained the peace for over a hundred years. The King of Above rules over the nobles and the merchants, while the Queen of Under controls the thieves, assassins, and whores. The peace is shattered when both monarchs are murdered on the same day, leaving their heirs apparent to deal with the consequences.
Gemma Antos, the new Queen of Under, has only just begun to understand her new role when she is faced with a city under seige -- strange brambles erupt throughout the city, fires rage, and a mage rebellion threatens everything she cares about.

And you can read an excerpt on YA Books Central.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
Pitched as: Rumplestiltskin retelling.

Expected publication: July 10th 2018 by Del Rey
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders... but her father isn't a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife's dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers' pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed--and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.  But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it's worth--especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.

Extra information:
This was actually a short story in an anthology called The Starlit Wood, but she decided to explore the story and expand it into a full novel!

Fairytale News | Feeling uninspired.

A while back I talked about how I was afraid that I was writing and posting content that was not really original or creative. This was followed by another post where I talked about the fact that originality is almost impossible, especially if you look at all the new blogs that pop up lately. I learned to let go of the idea that I had to come up with new ideas all the time, simply because almost everything has been done before. It's the fact that YOU are writing it, that makes it unique.

The problem with that is, however, that I feel uninspired. I don't have any problems anymore with talking about topics many people have spoken about, but I simply don't feel like it. You might have noticed that I've cut down in the amount of posts. It's not only because I'm busy or the fact I still haven't found a schedule that works for me; it's more that I have no idea what I want to write about and what I want to say. Every evening I sit in front of my computer screen and I'm just blank. I end up doing a lot of things, but none of them have to do with blogging. The amount of unread posts in my Bloglovin' feed is prove of my lack of motivation.

I still love blogging and I enjoy writing, so it's frustrating that it is not working out. I'm still able to type down my reviews, but I want more on my blog (especially since those are not the most popular type of posts) The only thing I still work on with a lot of ideas is my fairytale challenge and I enjoy my monthly recaps, but for some reason my head is completely empty when it comes to other ideas. Discussion posts, yeah. I have quite some random thoughts scribbled down in my notebook, but the words does not come out the way I want and I don't feel like writing them. I am now thinking about revisiting older posts and see if I have new thoughts to add – or perhaps I have changed my mind over the course of time.

And if I am being honest, I sometimes have a little voice that wonders how much I actually contribute to the community. There are so many new blogs and that is great! But every now and then I feel like I'm swallowed up in the mass and I don't know if I stand out enough?  I guess I just need to embrace my blogging slump, then kick myself and get right back at it.


Made my first GIF. 

How do you deal with feeling uninspired? Any tips for me?

Fairytale News | Unknown retellings 2015.

This is a 'new' feature I came up with. I will be talking about everything that has to do with reading. From pretty new covers to discussions about books. I will post them randomly.

I have some other posts, like retellings from 2013, another retellings from 2013 and upcoming fairy tales 2014. This time I thought it would be fun to highlight a few retellings all published in 2015 that flew under the radar. I think it's important to give the more unknown/unpopular books also a chance, so I set out and found the most promising looking retellings.

A wish made of glass by Ashlee Willis. August 14th 2015 by Dewdrop Books. Based on: Cinderella.
The love of her new step-sister, Blessing, proves an unexpected gift in her time of need. Yet even as their friendship blooms, Isidore begins to see that Blessing is everything she herself has always wanted to be, but is not. Jealousy grips Isidore as she watches this beautiful new sister steal away all she holds dear.

The toymaker’s apprentice By Sherri L. Smith. October 13th 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. Based on: Nutcracker prince.
Stefan Drosselmeyer is a reluctant apprentice to his toymaker father until the day his world is turned upside down. His father is kidnapped and Stefan is enlisted by his mysterious cousin, Christian Drosselmeyer, to find a mythical nut to save a princess who has been turned into a wooden doll. Embarking on a wild adventure through Germany, Stefan must save Boldavia’s princess and his own father from the fanatical Mouse Queen and her seven-headed Mouse Prince, both of whom have sworn to destroy the Drosselmeyer family.

Alice by Christina Henry. Published August 4th 2015 by Ace. Based on: Alice in Wonderland.
In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside. In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood… And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

Fairytale News | Popularity.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

Sometimes I see people talking about the ‘big bloggers’ or ‘that popular blog’ and it always makes me curious; what makes you a big/popular blogger? Is it the amount of followers, the statistics, the comments you get or is it the value you add to the blogosphere? Is it the amount of ARC’s, the connections with publishers/authors or how many blogging friends you have?

I do understand the distinction some people make between a big/small blog. If you've been around for three years you are clearly 'bigger' than someone who just started. BUT, both are equally important to me. We are all valuable and we all add something special. To me, it’s about being part of this community, whether you have tons of followers or none. Therefore I don't think there is such a thing as ‘big’ or ‘popular.'

Blogging is also not a competition. We are all in this, because of our mutual love for books. I’m not busy comparing myself to other blogs and I don’t think it’s important to be obsessed with numbers. Numbers say nothing to me. It’s about the passion I feel for blogging and how much I enjoy talking about books. I'm not going to lie and say I don't care about the amount of followers or how many comments I get. It's always a good feeling to see more friends added you to their circle and it's even better if people show that they've read your post. But in the end, those two things will not keep you around if you don't enjoy your own content. 

It's the same with ARC's. People sometimes seem to believe that you have more influence if you review more early copies. I say we need to let go of the special value we have given to ARC's. They can be a fun perk of being a blogger, but they are not necessarily in order to maintain a blog.

So what do you think. Is there such a thing as a big/popular blogger to you?

Fairytale News | Favorite book or favorite author?

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

There is a difference between a favorite book and a favorite author for me.

Definition of a favorite book:
You can’t stop thinking about it, you recommend it to everyone and you want to reread it as soon as possible. BUT, you don’t feel the need to read every other book written by that author. Sometimes you even dislike their other work.

Definition of a favorite author:You read and love anything they write. Their new books are standard on your wish-list, because it doesn’t even matter what it is about. You even read books outside your comfort zone, because they wrote it. This author can hardly do anything wrong for you.

Fairytale News | Leaving your characters behind.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

I often re-read a book and last them I got struck by the idea; those characters never grow older, but I do. I return to books with characters that used to be my age, but suddenly years later they are still the same and I’ve grown-up. It makes me feel like I’m leaving those characters behind me. It’s not that I can’t connect with them anymore, but it’s like they are a memory of a childhood friend you don’t see anymore. You only remember them how they were when you were young, but you never get to see them when they are older.

I might not have the appropriate age that is intended for Young Adult books, but I never struggle with connecting with most younger characters. I guess it’s because I don’t feel old. I have the age in number, but not the spirit. It’s like Nose Graze said: I feel like a fake adult. I also think it’s ridiculous to restrict YA books to the target group, because we should stop judging what everybody reads. But, sometimes those characters I identified with do things that make me shake my head now; and when I was younger I could totally understand it. This is especially the case when the character has a fight with their parents. I used to feel frustrated for that character, but now I often have to agree with their parents. It's the same when I try to return to books I read when I was < 12, it doesn’t work for me anymore. I feel (gosh, that sounds terrible) too old for those stories. I can see why I loved them, but I guess I have outgrown them. It's also the reason I am afraid to read some classic children books I missed while growing up, like the recently translated The letter for the King.

I can always group together with my Harry Potter characters. Growing older alongside the characters was a magical journey and I think that’s why I love the epilogue so much; I could see a glimpse of them being older. It makes me feel like I haven't left them behind, because they have grown older too. It feels more complete to me, because their story didn’t just stop at them being a teenager. It makes J.K Rowling even more epic too, because she keeps spoiling us with extra information about our beloved characters.

Do you ever feel like you’ve outgrown characters you used to love when you were the same age? Do you think that makes you a bit too harsh sometimes, when you judge them?

Fairytale News | Feedback and co-blogging.

I talked about originality a while back; how hard it is to come up with refreshing content and how I was worried people might get bored by my content. I also asked you how you come up with new ideas or how you write your discussion posts. Your feedback was very helpful and someone said it might be a good idea to respond to everything you said with a new blog post. Here it is!

I think you all agreed on one thing: originality is hard and almost impossible. Sure, sometimes you come across something that hasn’t been used that often, but something entirely new is hard to come by. You also thought it’s fine to take a popular topic as long as you stay close to yourself and your own voice. Your opinion will always be different from someone else since you are an unique person. You always add something to the topic. It’s strange how I always tell other people this, but when it comes to myself I had to hear it from someone else too.

That being said, I think it’s time for me to let go of being worried about my content. Some of you said that, as long as you are proud of what you post, it doesn’t really matter what other people think. There has never been a moment where I didn’t feel confident about my posts. I’m happy with my own content, but at the same time I also want to make sure my followers like it. Your feedback and the compliments definitely worked, thanks for all the positivity! I sometimes see bloggers with surveys and since that’s not something I want to do, it was great to get some feedback this way. Have you ever made a feedback survey and how helpful was it for you?

I also saw a couple of people mention they were thinking about finding a co-blogger. I think that’s a great idea for some. I follow a couple of blogs with co-bloggers and they sound like the best teams ever, but for now it’s not something I aspire. I think two (or more) people can come up with great ideas together, but to be honest, this blog is mine. It represents everything I am and I don’t think I could share this place with someone else. I’m also a bit of a control freak, so it would be too hard to let go of certain things. How do you feel about co-blogging, would it be something for you?

Fairytale News | Personal vs professional reviews.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

I love the change in blogging I see lately. People are trying out their own memes/features, bloggers change the way they write their review and there is diversity in what they post. One of the things I notice is that bloggers start to get more personal. We share things that happen in our daily lives en we include them in our reviews.

I absolutely love it. I think it’s great to know more about the blogger. It makes them feel like a person instead of a someone behind a computer screen in another part of the world. I like being able to read the voice of the blogger who writes the review. I'm not per se talking about fangirling, screaming or raving reviews, but more the way bloggers link their personal experiences to a review. It makes them stand out to me. The personal touch also makes it easier for me to see if I am going to like or dislike the book, especially if I’m close to that blogger.

At the same time I think that there are people out there who wish it would be more professional. Reviews only based on rational, objective things rather than talking about how a book makes you feel or think. They want to be able to create their opinion without being influenced by the feelings of the blogger. I can understand that side of the story too, but professional reviews always gives me the impression that they aren't completely genuine. (I know that it's just a writing-style and I appreciate how everyone writes, but that's just how it sometimes feels to me) I feel like personal reviews go more in depth and highlight different aspects, which tells me more about a book.

I’m very curious to see what you guys think. Are you someone who likes emotional, personal reviews or do you like the professional ones where they only talk about aspects of the story itself without the reviewers opinions?

Fairytale News | My bullying story.

This is a 'new' feature I came up with. I will be talking about everything that has to do with reading. From pretty new covers to discussions about books. I will post them randomly.

This is a serious matter I want to talk about today. I sometimes look at my Google Stats to see the words people use to find my blog. I was shocked when I found this one between normal looking search words: “bullied by everyone in my life want to die” It makes me sad that someone has to Google for this and mad how little attention there is for bullying. This is something that should be addressed more in the media, because it's not a topic you can push away like it doesn't matter.

Whoever searched for this, let me tell you one thing: YOU MATTER. You are important. You are special, unique and wonderful. I have been bullied and I know how hard it is. I know how it feels like to look in the mirror and feel worthless and ugly. I know what it is to think you are never good enough and to feel that you don’t belong. I have talked about this before in the letter to younger Mel and when bullying isn’t bullying but here is the whole story. This is a bit scary for me to post, but I hope I can help someone with it.

Fairytale News | Originality.

This is something I struggle with. I’m always busy with my content and trying to come up with new ideas, but sometimes I’m stuck. It’s hard to be original and unique, especially when you have the feeling almost everything has been done. I enjoy writing my discussion posts, but at the same time I don’t want to use popular/overused topics all the time.

While I’m very proud of my blog, there are moments I’m a bit jealous of the endless posts from people. I admired them for coming up with things I wish I thought of – and I wish I could be as inspiring as them. At the moment I’m busy with real life, like you might know I started my internship, and I’m still trying to figure out a good balance between reading, life and blog posts. I feel a bit empty when it comes to discussion posts.

Most of my inspiration comes from things I see on the internet, my own personal experiences or things people around me say. Examples of this posts are when I talked about bullying and the wrong use of the word, my life growing up as a reader and my love for Disney. But there are moments I’m scared to fall into repetition or the worst thing I’m afraid of: that people get bored of my content.

I'm happy that I came up with my movie feature, because I can spread my Disney love, and I have some posts coming up about things like popularity, the 'best' posts and second reading chances. My question is, how do you come up with new content? And are there certain topics you want to see here, like more personal things?

Fairytale News | How blogging changed my life.

Book blogging has been a big part of my life for the past 2.5 years and it has effected and changed me in positive ways. Today I want to share you how blogging changed my life.

The first thing that would never have happened without my blog is the start of my book club. Once every month I meet up with Debby, Daisy and Daph. We’ve been doing this for a year now and I’m so happy with them in my life. I now have real life people I can fangirl/rant with! This showed me that I AM capable of meeting new people without making an embarrassment out of myself. I don’t think I would have been brave enough a few years ago, but blogging has pushed me to do new things. It has made me step out of my comfort zone. I also made other blogging friends and I never imagined that I would feel so connected with people all over the world. It’s a wonderful feeling. And to come back on my confession about my fear of Twitter, I feel I’m getting better at it. I keep challenging myself with things I’m scared of and it feels good.

Fairytale News | Reviewing series.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

Writing reviews is something I love to do. It’s fun to write down all my thoughts/feelings and talk about everything I liked and disliked. I always take care to post warnings about spoilers, because you know how much I hate spoilers. This is the reason I always have problems with reviews for series and installments.

It is SO hard to talk about a book in the middle of a series without giving too much information. I want to say enough to make people curious so they pick up the first book, but how on earth do you write such a review? The sequel is a continuation of a storyline and (hopefully) shows the development from characters, but you can't say too much about it. I feel like I'm walking in circles: trying to show you that it's a good book without actually coming to the point, because that might be a spoiler.

That's why it’s difficult for me to find a good way to review those sequels and they always seem to get less comments. I’ve been trying to write them in another format and you might have seen my first experiment where I reviewed the books of Bayern from Shannon Hale. I’m also saving reviews, so I can publish my reviews right after each other like with Mindy McGinnis duology Not a drop to drink and In a handful of dust.

The downside of these methods is, that some reviews have to wait until I’m done with the sequel(s) – and we all know from my mission impossible that there are a lot of unpublished series I’m reading. Sometimes I have no choice but to publish my review, especially when it's a review copy.



I’m very curious to see how you handle these sequel-reviews?

Fairytale News | Fairytale retellings.

This is a 'new' feature I came up with. I will be talking about everything that has to do with reading. From pretty new covers to discussions about books. I will post them randomly.

The trend of fairytales and retellings is still going strong! You can imagine how happy it makes me to find new books every day. Goodreads is my main source and today I want to spotlight some of my most anticipated fairytale retellings. Some of them don’t have covers, but they deserve the attention anyway. I have some other posts, like retellings from 2013, another retellings from 2013 and upcoming fairy tales 2014.

Fairytale News | Other content.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

Lately I’ve been thinking about something I want to change about my blog – or add, it’s just how you want to see it. My main hobby and passion is reading, but something else I love to do is watching TV shows and movies. I’ve had a couple of blog posts about this, like my top 10 favorite movies/TV shows, my favorite TV shows or my explanation on why I love Disney so much and this made me think: I want to highlight this. I’ve added a ‘watched’ section to my monthly recap posts, but what if I give it a more prominent place on my blog?

This idea was inspired by Celine’s move from Nyx book reviews to her new blog Irresponsible cactus. I could never leave this place and start something new, but I’d love to branch out some more like Celine. There are also blogs I follow like Nerdette reviews and Reviews from a bookworm who often post reviews from movies or Rinn Reads with her Turn off the TV feature and Amber recently started her Books in motion feature. I love to read them and I've found some great recommendations there.

My blog will always be mainly about books and everything that has to do with reading, but why would I restrict myself to only that if there are so many other things I like? Now, my main reason for this post is asking you, how do you feel about that? Would you be interested in more different posts? I have the idea that would show more of my personality, because I’m not only a reader. I know this is my place and I can do whatever I want, but at the same time I don’t want to post content you aren't interested in.

Things you could expect are topics like: best animation movies (according to me), posts with short reviews from movies I've seen that month, if you like X you would like Y, book/movie combinations, mood recommendations and hopefully a lot of Disney/book comparison posts. I don’t think I would post them very often in the beginning, just to see how it works out.

This also brings me to a discussion topic. Is a blogger only a book blogger if their content is solely about books or can they still carry that name if they post about different things too? I feel you could post about more things if at least 50% of your posts is based on something bookish. It doesn’t have to be a review, but discussion posts, bookish confessions or tips count as well. I like the diversity!

Fairytale News | Do you comment on older posts?

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

I like to stay up to date when it comes to commenting. I leave comments around the blogosphere almost every day, because I follow a lot of blogs and I want to give everyone some comment love. It sometimes still happens that I’m behind on commenting. If I take my situation now; I went away for four days and I have around 500 unread posts I still need to comment on. Sometimes it's so tempting to click on the 'read all' button, but I would feel.. guilty and I'm afraid I missed exciting posts.

This got me thinking, how do you feel about commenting on older posts? Do you feel like it’s a waste of time, because the blogger is already several posts further? Or do you feel like you still want to give that old post some comment love? Sometimes I like to scroll in the archive from a blog and I'm not sure if it's appreciated if I comment on a very old post or if those posts just doesn't matter anymore.

So, how do you feel as blogger if you get comments on older posts? I personally love it, because it shows me that people pay attention to my blog. That sometimes they might look for a review and that they have found it on my blog, doesn’t matter how old it is. I think older posts, like older books, always deserve comment love and attention.

Fairytale News | Spoilers (2).

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

A while back I talked about spoilers and if there is such a thing as ‘a spoiler that stops being a spoiler’ after a certain time. You can find my post about it right here: Spoiler talk.

Basically, my question was when it’s okay to talk about details. Is there a time limit for a spoiler? I hate spoilers with a passion, so one of the negative things (for me) of being a blogger is stumbling on (accidental) spoilers. I wanted to know what you thought about handling information we might not consider as a spoiler anymore, because of the age of the book (like with Harry Potter/LOTR/GOT) I also wondered how we should deal with them on social platforms, like Twitter.

Most of you guys had the same idea as me, which means that as long as things are popular and on going (like with Game of thrones and the TV show) you should be careful about it. Otherwise, there is no ‘rule’ you should follow, but it’s always kind to take other people in consideration. Placing a spoiler tag in your review isn’t that hard, but at the same time it’s always a good thing to be careful yourself. If you know you are going to read a book soon, it might be best to stay away from reviews.

Almost everyone was also on the same page when it comes to Twitter. Spoilers are inevitable, unfortunately. It is preferred if you take those conversations personal (like with DM’s or other platforms like Whatsapp), but it’s up to you. Therefor it’s best to stay away from Twitter when it comes to new releases and new aired episodes. Again, if you are a tweeter it might be nice of you to warn people for upcoming spoiler tweets.

Today I want to tackle something I haven’t talked about in the previous discussion and that is spoilers in comments. It has happened to me that I came across people who openly talked about spoilers in their comments. It is of course free for you to talk about that, but do you ever think about this? Are you aware that you might accidentally spoiler someone else if you go into detail, while the review used spoiler tags?

I always try to stay vague when I comment, because I would feel terrible knowing I ruined a book for someone else. So my next question is, how do you feel about this? Have you ever consider this possibility or do you never read comments?

Fairytale news | We should ban all books.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

Today I read this very enlightening article on Slate [link deleted], that points out why you should feel embarrassed when you read YA books when you don’t fall in that category. This opinion is based on very strong arguments that I have to share with you:

“But the YA and “new adult” boom may mean fewer teens aspire to grown-up reading, because the grown-ups they know are reading their books.”

Because yes, that is definitely something we must be afraid of. Imagine that people only read the books they enjoy! THE HORROR. We all know that reading isn’t meant for that type of enjoyment. We should force ourselves to read other books in order to complete our lives and to grow from it. There is no such thing as reading for pleasure or satisfaction. It’s the same with movies. We don’t watch those because we enjoy them, no, we should learn from them of course! We set a terrible example for our teenagers when we show them that age doesn’t matter. When we make clear that you should do what you want, as long as it makes you happy. Oh no no no!

“I have no urge to go back and re-read them, but those books helped turn me into the reader I am today. It’s just that today, I am a different reader.”

Oh, do share those books with me. I’d love to turn into a snob and a judgmental reader! That is something we all aspire to be after all. Why wouldn’t you be happy that reading is becoming more popular? Why would you stop caring about what other people read, when you can judge and spread nonsense? I say we put patrols in the stores. If you want to buy a YA book, you have to show your ID and if you are too old, you should be put into jail. That will teach them.

“It’s not simply that YA readers are asked to immerse themselves in a character’s emotional life—that’s the trick of so much great fiction—but that they are asked to abandon the mature insights into that perspective that they (supposedly) have acquired as adults.”

It is in no way possible to connect with a character much younger than you, because it’s obviously not-done if you remember your past. You can never look back at your youth. You can never try to understand the way you felt back then, because you are so much older and wiser now. Let’s forget everything you’ve ever done, because you are an adult now. So never answer your children’s questions when they ask you about your past. Don’t comfort them with things like ‘I used to feel that way’, because you can’t remember that anymore. You are all grown-up now.

So that is why I propose we ban all books.
-You can’t read books about witches, vampires, mermaids, dragons, zombies and any mythical creature you can think of. How are you supposed to connect with any of those?
-You can’t read books about princesses, princes, kings, queens, because how on earth are you ever going to understand their lives?
-You can’t read books about war and soldiers, because you are save sitting in your house and you can’t possible feel how they feel.
-You can’t read classics, because you’ve never been in that era.
-You can’t read historical books for the same reason.
-You can’t read books about characters older than you, because you don’t have the ‘mature insight that fits that age.’
-You can't read books about people with your age when it's not about something you've experienced.
-You can’t read about super hero’s, because we can’t fly, shoot spider webs from our wrists or become invisible.
-You can’t read comics, just because.
-You can’t read a bedtime story to your children anymore. Be ashamed of yourself, for reading a book out loud meant for little children!

So let’s make it easy and just say that you can’t read anymore.

(I do sincerely hope that you guys understand this is sarcastic. This is the only way I could reply to this crap. I tried to find words to write down my thoughts and feelings, but I can't find those. I'm mad and saddened that there are people out there who think like this. You should never ever ever ever be ashamed of the things you like and I don't get why some people make such an effort to tell you otherwise.)

Fairytale News | Rating and enjoyment level.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

Ratings can be difficult. I talked last time about changing my ratings from older books, but for me there is also a thing as ‘enjoyment level.’ Which means that a favorite book doesn’t have to be a book with a 5/5+ rating. It can be that I connect with it on a personal level and that it touched me or I just really enjoyed the story – but that doesn’t have to mean it was good enough for a high rating. I’ve encountered several books where the plot wasn’t that strong or the characters weren’t fantastic, but there was something about the book that gave me a good feeling. So the rating might be 3 flowers, but it could still deserve a ‘favorite’ label.

It can also mean that I liked every aspect of a story when I break it down in my review, but I have an okay feeling about it. Good characters, interesting plot, fun romance; and I will give it a 3 flower rating anyway. Most of the times it has to do with the writing-style and the atmosphere in the book. Having all the things I look for in a story doesn’t automatically mean I love the book. I have to feel a connection with all those aspects in order to feel wrapped into the story.

Sometimes there are also those type of books that are incredibly flawed, but you still enjoy them. One of the examples I can give you is my rating from Leah Cypress book Death Sworn, which was based on how much I liked it and how much the overall story was actually worth. And that is the ‘enjoyment level’ for me. The feeling a book gives me when I close it.

How about you? Are all your favorite books automatically a 5-rating? Do you have such a thing as an enjoyment level like me?

Fairytale news | Upcoming fairytales.

In fairytale news I will be talking about everything that has to do with reading. From pretty new covers to discussions about books. I will post them randomly and most of the times they will be about fairy tales or my extra ‘Mel on reading’ discussion post.

Looking for some new fairytale retellings? I got your back! I thought it was time again to showcase some of the upcoming fairy tales that caught my eyes. Like we all know by now, this is still one of my favorite genres and it makes me excited to see how much books I’ll be able to read in the future! There are so many more titles I want to highlight, so I think I need to make a part two. Clicking on the covers will take you to Goodreads. The other books don’t have covers yet, so I included their blurb.

Fairytale News | Spoilers.

'Mel on reading' is a little feature I created as part of my Fairytale news. It's my way to show my thoughts on topics that go from pet peeves in reading to my favorite things in books.

Spoilers, one of the things I hate with a fierce passion. A spoiler can ruin everything for me. A book (or a movie) is a journey for me. When I start the first page, I have no idea what I’m starting. The story builds up, the plot is thickening and finally I will reach the end and hopefully will be surprised when they reveal the conclusion. If I already know what is going to happen, I have the idea I’m reading the book for nothing. Why would I care about the story if it’s obvious that Y is going to die? Or if the killer is the MC’s best friend? It takes all the surprise, pleasure and fun out of the story.