What Happens When I Like a Book But Then I... Don't

This happened to me three different times. The first time I read a book, I really liked it. Like 4-5 stars. But then I read it again and saw flaws with it that I didn't see before. Flaws that I couldn't look past the second time. Or I'll be having a discussion with someone and they'll bring up a point that I never thought about and I get that feeling like "oh crap, I don't think I like this book quite as much as I think I did."

I used to be very generous with my ratings. If I didn't really like a book but I like the author, it still got 4 stars. I hardly handed out 2 stars and I never gave out 1 stars. I was scared to hurt feelings. I was scared of looking mean. But now I realize that I'm entitled to my opinions and I'll rate a book two stars if I thought it was horrible. I'll rate a book three stars if I enjoyed it but wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it or read it again.

So what do I do? Do I go back and fix my ratings to my true feelings or do I leave them as is? There was a book that I wasn't too fond of but I put it as 4 stars because I liked another book by the author. As soon as I realized I didn't actually like said book, I went back and changed my rating to three stars. Then I changed it to two. It's not even that the book changed. It's just that I wanted to be honest with my opinions and I changed my view on things.

But is changing a rating to a lower star just because I notice that the way the character always starts a sentence with "yeah no but"? (this is just an example) And how much do I mark down if I notice something that I never noticed before? One star? Half a star? Does it depend on how much I notice has changed? If there is a review, should I edit the review and say that my opinion changed and I lowered the rating?

With Goodreads, it's easy to change the rating but do I go through the hassle of changing the rating on everything else that I rate things on? Do I go through and edit the review that I have written in three different places? Am I really this lazy?

So let's talk: What do you do when this happens? Has this happened to you?

September Recap

Books read this month:

Twitter review (140 characters or less):
This book was gripping, intense, and full of twists and turns. I was hooked from the first to the last page. A must read for everyone.

Read from August 30-September 1

Twitter review:
Swoon filled. My sexual tension is rising. Good plot. Extremely funny. Intense moments. Janet Evanovich does it again! (Ranger is still bae)

Read from September 1-September 5

Twitter review:
Ranger is forever my favourite male character after this book. I could not stop reading it. It's funny, intense, and sometimes really sad.

Read from September 6-September 7

Twitter review:
Dickie Orr was involved. I laughed until I cried and I was so nervous I could barely read. The more I read, the more I love Stephanie.

Read from September 7-September 13

Twitter review:
Why did it take me this long to read this book? I loved everything about it. The characters were real. The plot was intense. I couldn't get enough.

Read from September 13-September 19

Twitter review:
This book was adorable and made me feel so many different ways. I'm so glad I found this on Netgalley. Pick it up; you won't regret it.

Read from September 19-September 20

Twitter review:
I NEED a whole series devoted to an undercover cop. I didn't think it was possible to get better after In The Woods but it did. Read this!

Read from September 20-September 26

Tana French is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me. I loved both books that I read by her and I'm already planning on reading Faithful Place in October. I have no doubt that the series gets stronger as it goes on and I'm so excited to see how it goes. I also really enjoyed reading more Stephanie Plum. I wanted to get further in the series, but I'm happy with my book choices that I made this month. I'm hoping that October brings just as many great books.

This month I:

• Turned 21! 
• Got a new phone (Galaxy s3)
• Worked a ton
• Watched my favourite baseball team win the central division
• Went to a few baseball games
• Bought tons of books
• Found a new author
• Bought new shoes
• Getting closer to figuring out what I want to do with my life

So lets talk: How did you do in September? Did you find any new authors?

Sunday Post [5]: What A Strange Week

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @
Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~
It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books..share them!

This week:

This week was a little different for me. I had zero ambition and took a break from daily blogging. I got behind of the posts and by the time I got home from work I didn't want to write the post for the next day. So sorry for it being a slow week! I got a new phone and I've been spending most of my time messing around with that. I went to the Tigers game on Friday hoping they would clinch the division but here I am on Sunday still waiting for them to clinch. It's very stressful. 

The library had another book sale so I took huge advantage of that. Overall, it was a very good week. I'm hoping to catch up on my blog posts for this week and maybe post the ones I missed last week. If not, I will post them next month.

This week on my blog:
Monday: When Not To Write a Review
Wednesday: Rewind: January Favourite
Friday: How I Was Changed As A Reader By The Internet

Next week on my blog: 

Monday: Love and Other Unknown Variables

Tuesday: October TBR

Wednesday: September Recap

Thursday: Used Books Need Love Too

Friday: Free Time Friday

Review: In The Woods

Books read this week:

The Likeness by Tana French (finished)

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

New books this week:

Closer pictures:

How was your week?

How The Internet Has Changed Me As A Reader

Before I made a Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and book blog; I just read. I read old ratty paperbacks that were older than my dad. I bought all of my books used and didn't think twice about it. I just did not think about how my books looked because I thought the only important thing was reading the book and enjoying it.

I realized when I got on Tumblr that it was different. I was different. I saw post after post about how it's a cardinal sin to dog ear books. (Which I do.) I saw people cringe at books in a series being a different edition (?? I was very confused by this.) I saw posts about how hardcovers are the end all be all for book lovers because they are "prettier", I saw people say that anyone that eats while eating are sloppy, post after post was saying that what I did was a cardinal sin.

I didn't know if I was reading all wrong this whole time or if it's just because these people are on the internet and showing pictures of their books all the time. When I first got into the book community, I didn't even know that was a thing.

I've changed because now I see that hardcover copies usually are a little nicer. Neat bookshelves usually are pretty nice. Eating while reading is sometimes a struggle (Even though I still do it.) Basically, I think twice before I do things with my books. Some things will never change, though. I'll always dog ear or highlight in books. I'll probably always snack while reading. And I'll probably still use MY books as coasters.

If I can still read the words in the book, I don't care what I do with the book. That will never change. But I have definitely felt a shift in how I look at books, especially at bookstores.

Has the internet changed you as a reader as well?

Rewind: January Favourite

I had a book blog before I had this one. I made monthly "favourite" posts talking about which books I liked the best. I still do something like that, but it is a little different. I am slowly going to be bringing over a few of my favourite posts, plus my monthly favourite posts so I can make a big post at the end of the year about my favourite books.

Books read: 9

Every month, I am going to post my favourite book I read that month. Since I just started this blog, I was unable to make one for January, so I will do it before the February one in a few days.

My favourite book I read in January was Along Came a Spider by James Patterson.

Along Came a Spider is the first book in the Alex Cross series. This series started out intense and emotional. It had the ability to pull any reader in within the first few pages and it definitely did that with me.

Alex Cross is a black detective and psychologist living in Washington DC. He’s a strong person and a very lovable father. I already love Alex and I’m only two books into the series. I would recommend this book, and this whole series, to anyone that likes mystery, thriller, and crime novels because you won’t regret it.

Fortunately for me, January was a great reading month. Looking through the books I read, I can’t say I disliked any of them. I wasn’t completely thrilled with The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, but a few days of reflecting on it, I really began to love it.

Honorable mentions: The Narrows by Michael Connelly | 3rd Degree by James Patterson | Something Blue by Emily Giffin

When Not To Write a Review

Lately I've been finding books that I just don't want to write reviews for. There are some that I plan on writing reviews for and then when I go to sit down with my notes, I just don't, and can't, do it. So then I have to think to myself "what is making me not want to write the review?"

Sometimes, I like a book too much to where whatever I write is not going to do it justice and I don't even attempt to get my thoughts down. Sometimes I get half way through a book and I realize that it's going to be one of those books that changes my life and I just need to spend the rest of the book enjoying it instead of analyzing everything. Night Film by Marisha Pessl was one of those books for me. I read it last month and haven't even tried writing a review for it because I just enjoyed it too much. I needed to just enjoy it.

Sometimes, I hate a book so much that I couldn't possibly write a review without it sounding like a big rant. I want my reviews to be nice and well thought out, even if I didn't like the book. I want to rationally discuss what I did or didn't like about books. There are some books where I just can't do that, so I choose not to write reviews. Those books I finish just so I never have to think about them again. I don't want to think about the book and I don't want to write a review. So I don't.

Sometimes, I read a book knowing from the start that I'm not going to be writing a review. We all need these books once and a while. If every book I read needs to be analyzed, them I'm not going to enjoy reading as much. So maybe one book a month is just a laid back book that I don't analyze. I just read. It's made reviewing more fun for me and it's made reading more fun for me.

If I don't feel like writing a review for a book, I don't. I don't do it because I won't be into it and the review will reflect that. I want my reviews to be fun but not sloppy. I can't do that if I don't care about writing the review. We all need to take breaks from writing reviews sometimes.

So, how do you decide when you're not going to write a review?

Sunday Post [4]- New Ways to Read!

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @
Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~
It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books..share them!

This week:

I worked a few days so I didn't get much reading done on those days, but Thursday was my birthday! I had tons of fun and got some awesome presents. The rest of the weekend I just laid back and read a lot on my new Kindle. Saturday night we went to Outback and it was just a fun night. It was a fun week and even though it was a tad stressful at work, it was still a good work week. 

This week on my blog:

Monday: Review: Since You've Been Gone

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday

Wednesday: Wishlist Wednesday

Thursday: [Day off for my birthday]

Friday: Birthday Book Haul

Saturday: My Favourite Place to Read

Next week on my blog:

Monday: When Not To Write a Review

Tuesday: Twitter Reviews 

Wednesday: Flashback to January Favourites

Thursday: How I Was Changed As a Reader By The Internet

Friday: Review: And Then There Were None

Saturday: Monogamy or Polygamy When It Comes To Reading Books?

Sunday: The Sunday Post

Books read this week:

In The Woods by Tana French (finished)

Kept by Jamie Fuchs (finished) short story

Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander (finished)

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Taken by Jamie Fuchs

Pages read this week: 823

Total pages: 1874

Goal: 6,000

Looking at it now, I don't think I'll be able to read 6,000 pages this month. Next month I'll set my sights a little lower. But I like having something big to aim for.