The Sunday Post #59 – Weekly Wrap-up
Welcome to my Sunday Post. Thank you to Kimba over at The Caffeinated Reviewer, who is hosting this weekly event. It is the perfect opportunity to share what happened here on my own blog, as well as some of the happenings elsewhere in the Blogosphere.
This week has been SO busy! I’ve taught a lot, and I’ve also studied a lot. I had a full novel to read for my class on Wednesday, and another one to read for that same class next Wednesday. Even a booklover like me can get a little overwhelmed with novels for class – because I didn’t choose them! What if I don’t really enjoy them, and I am not even allowed to DNF?
If you’re interested in signing up for the 2016 New Release Challenge, you can do so here! It’s a challenge where we review books released in 2016, and since many of us receive ARCs, it’s one that is not too difficult to follow up on 🙂
This week’s posts:
- [18 Nov] Waiting on Wednesday #72 – The Year We Fell Apart
- [19 Nov] Thirsty Thursday and Hungry Hearts #42 – Rock Chick Regret
- [21 Nov] STS #110 Bought Borrowed and Bagged 60 – And I’m a Winner!
- [21 Nov] #COYER Back to Basics
- [22 Nov] The Sunday Post #59
This week’s reviews:
- [16 Nov] Rock Chick Rescue by Kristen Ashley ★★★
- [17 Nov] Mine by Stacey Kennedy ★★
- [19 Nov] Eighteen by J. A. Huss ★★★★
- [20 Nov] Controlled Burn by Shannon Stacey ★★★★
Elsewhere in the Blogosphere:
Braine @ Talk Supe has a great discussion post about Giving Credit Where Credit is Due.
Cait @ Paper Fury has a translation guide up this week : How to Translate What The Writer Creature is Trying to Say.
Lola @ Lola’s Reviews has a post about How Do You Decide Which Format to Read/ Buy a Book?
Grace @ Rebel Mommy Bookblog has a post called How I Keep Organized Blogging.
Cait @ Paper Fury also has a LOL-worthy post about Bookblogger Problems this week.
Brandee @ Bookworm Brandee’s bookish babble is about Why She’s Perpetually Behind.
What have you been up to this past week? Don’t forget to leave me a link so I can come visit your Sunday Post as well.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you’ve enjoyed your weekend, and that next week will be filled with awesome!
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Ooh, yay for busyness!! I have been too. XD I swear, things just get massively crazy at the end of the year no matter what. hehe. I hope you’re finding time to relax a bit too amongst all the things that need doing. 😉
Thanks for sharing my post!! <3
I don’t think I’ll have as much time for ‘me’ as I’d like until Christmas, but that’s OK… I will have some time off before the exam session starts 🙂
Oh, that would be awesome if schools let you DNF books, but the lazy kids would take advantage of that.
LOL, I know! And it definitely is very nice to read authors I might not have read otherwise, just last week, we had to read a book that was out of print, and it was actually quite difficult to follow the lecture while having the book on my kindle!
Yeah, there’s always that worry when assigned a book to read, but it’s nice sometimes to read something you probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Even if you didn’t care much for it. I’ve always read the books my son read through school, and there were some he loved and I was like ‘meh’. lol. Anyway, have a great week, Lexxie. 🙂
Yeah, I read my kids’ books for school, too, just to see what they were reading, and some were really good, while others made me roll my eyes and feel happy I wasn’t the one who had to read it 🙂
2 novels for school- wow. Yes that’s the problem they don’t let you DNF, I suppose. I laughed I read that. 🙂 Thanks for the links too- some good stuff there, looks like. Hope you have a great weekend and week ahead.
It’s all good, though, most of the books our professors pick for classes are interesting in some ways – but some are very tedious to read anyway…
Thanks for stopping by, Greg.
Oh Lexxie I can’t imagine HAVING to read a book for study purposes. Even now when I feel a sense of obligation to read a book I haven’t requested I get stressed. I agree – not being able to DNF is scary!!!
Hope next week isn’t quite as busy on the teaching and studying front!
Most of them are good, Deb, but some are a little difficult to get into at times 🙂 And we have to find something interesting to say about them in class, too, you know?
Normally, I should have a lot less teaching next week, which is a very good thing.
Yikes! Memories, memories, Lexxie (lol) I loved school, but I had so many romance novels I was reading at the time, that I sometimes dreaded having to switch my mind over to the school books I was Supposed to Reading. Hope you get to have at least one day for you this week. Hugs…RO
Yeah, sometimes, I think I’m too old for this, but it’s mostly good anyway! And hopefully, in not too much time I’ll be able to only teach!
Thanks for stopping by, Ro <3
Your busy week puts mine to shame! 🙂 All I know is I work Monday this week and then I’m off until the next Tuesday. I’m SO READY for a break. I hope you can find a little time to relax this week, too!
Have a great one!
I have to say I’m very happy not all weeks are that busy! I need to slow things down a bit so I can start writing my papers!
I hope you’ll have a great week with a nice break, Kim!
Twitter: limabean74
Wow you really have been busy. It really is very hard to read something that you might want to DNF but all those people that are to lazy to read would be DNF every book.
I need to make my sign up post for that and my end of the year challenge post to see how I did this year. 🙂
I hope things slow down a bit for you. Have a great week, Lexxie! Happy Reading! ox
LOL, I do know that! I see the same thing when I teach, too! I try to let the students have some kind of choice, though, and I think they can learn just as much from a contemporary YA as from a classic! If I can get some of my students to read more in English, that’s a win in my opinion.
Things should slow down a little next week, but I have a paper to finish and another to start… so I might just have to say no if a school calls me to teach for the next little while.
You did have a busy week. You make a great point about the reading assignments for school and I think that’s why I didn’t read a lot back then. It does take the enjoyment out of a book if you are made to read it. That’s why I stopped signing up as a review for blog tours. I don’t want the pressure of finishing it and having to like it because I’m on a tour. I’d rather read according to my mood. I’ll be signing up for the New Release Challenge. My post will be up soon. Have a great week!
Yeah, I really need to keep that in mind for when I will prepare reading assignments as a teacher – the students need to have some kind of choice!
Now, I only sign up for review tours if the books are ones I want to read anyway. That way, I have a bigger chance of enjoying them 🙂
I look forward to seeing your New Release Challenge sign-up post soon 🙂 Have a great week yourself!
You are so diligent. Even in grad school, I somehow managed not to finish everything. But I was a slacker. In my second time through I finished everything – but it was math and science and mostly things to memorize. That was so long ago I cannot remember what I memorized now.
I have to admit that the novel we had to read for last week was one I hadn’t completely finished… but I somehow managed anyway, Steph:)
And I’m glad that I don’t really have to memorize things, because that’s not something I’m very good at 🙂
You are so busy!! I need more hours in the day!!
Looking forward to COYER, it looks great fun and a great way to get those books read and in the bag!!
Yeah, more hours in the day would be great… but I would probably spend those here on the blog and other blogs rather than being more productive 😀
COYER is going to be a blast!
Sounds like you had a very busy week! I feel your anxiety about class reads. When I had to read a book for a class that I ended up really not enjoying, I would start skimming to pick-up on things I might need to talk about in class. 😛
Yeah, skimming can work in some cases, for sure! I wish we’d have a class with something really contemporary! Thanks for stopping by, Samantha.
Even though I love reading, I always found reading for class hard as you don’t pick the books and it can really put pressure on the reading, which makes it less fun. We had a literature class in high school where we had to read dutch literature and while some weren’t too bad I also struggled through them. It’s nice when you can pick a book of your own choosing afterwards.
I am participatign in the new release challange again next year as I really enjoyed it this year. I am glad you’re hosting it again in 2016 :). I have my sign-up post scheduled for december, so I’ll link up then. Thanks for linking to my post! Have a great week!
Yeah, I think it’s the pressure of ‘having to’ read that sometimes gets to me, too, Lola.
I’m glad you’ll participate in our 2016 New Release Challenge, Lola! We have some more things planned this year, with almost a year of experience behind us now.
Twitter: kimbacaffeinate
Hehe…I am sorry professor, that book was a DNF for me, perhaps we could discuss 18 by Hauss. LOL
LOL yeah, that would go over well, I can just see me saying that 😀 hehehehe Thanks for the great laugh, Kim!
Your 2016 Challenge sounds tempting…I gave up on challenges a couple of years ago (except the Goodreads one), deciding that challenges took the fun out of reading. But I can see how they can bring fun into reading, too.
Enjoy your week…and thanks for visiting my blog. I am loving being able to watch TV again…and read with an eye that is no longer swollen, but simply red. LOL. I’m off to check some of those links.
It’s a challenge where you don’t really have to do much, except just reading new releases, Laurel-Rain *continues to tempt* 😉
I’m glad your eye is no longer swollen, and hope the redness will recede as well! Enjoy your TV shows!
Oh, I sympathize – both on the “being busy” front and the reading for class. Since my freelance work involves reading and analyzing books so I can prepare the index, I’m sometimes in the position of having to read a book I’m really not enjoying. They’re nonfiction rather than novels, but I understand your worry; it’s not fun having to read something you don’t like.
Thanks for the great list of links – I’ll be checking some of those out! Have a wonderful week, and a lovely Thanksgiving if you celebrate it.
That sounds like exhausting work, Lark, at least some times! I’m sure there are some really interesting ones you get to read as well 😀 Have a wonderful week yourself!
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Switzerland, but I know many of my friends will be having a fantastic time with friends and family in this coming week 🙂
You were busy! I hope the books you have to read for class aren’t/weren’t too bad. I don’t miss being told what to read; I enjoyed some of my assigned reading while others were a struggle to get through. There are a couple that have stayed with me though, so definitely worth the time and effort.
Have a great week!
No, they were OK, but I might not have completely read one of them… it was slow paced, and it was hard to stay concentrated. And I have discovered many amazing books thanks to this one professor, which is why I keep picking his classes 😀 Have a great week yourself!
That is a busy week! And two books for class can be hard to do in that time frame if you don’t love them. Hope they were ok! Thanks for the link back! Have a great week!
They worked OK, I kind of skimmed one of them, and then when the professor said something about what chapter he wanted to talk about in class, I speed-read that, and was able to participate… :O 😀
Oh, I do NOT miss having to read entire books each week for class! I had one professor who was very into herself and made us read all the books she’d written. Ugh, no thank you! I hope you survive it!! I’m definitely signing up for the New Release Challenge this year, by the way! It sounds amazing!
Oh no! Years ago, when I studied international relations, our economics professor had us buy his book, and it was SO expensive, too! I’m usually OK with the books we have to read in this professor’s class, we read Wuthering Heights earlier in the semester, so that was great 🙂
I am so happy you’re signing up for the New Release Challenge, Tracy 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
My 15-yr-old son hates reading for school because he loves Fantasy and the assigned books are so not. LOL
I love fantasy and sci-fi and contemporary romance and stuff, so I totally understand him! I think sometimes, reading a good fantasy book can be just as rewarding for a teacher as reading a classic!
I haven’t had to read for school in a very long time, but I know when I did was when I actually really didn’t like reading. It always made me go away from reading even books outside of assigned reading. So good luck getting through terrible school books! 😀
I keep reading for myself, I think it makes me even happier to have the blog as an outlet, too 😀
I hope you get through all you have to read for school. My daughter is reading two books right now for school and she’s only a sophomore in high school. She has no idea how much reading she’ll have to in college.
I thought about signing up for your challenge, but I’ll admit I suck at keeping up with them. I haven’t finished a single one yet. I always get sidetracked by other stuff. Good luck with it though 🙂
There definitely is a lot of reading in uni, and I think the fact that I’m taking English language and literature makes it great for me 🙂
You still have time to decide on the challenge, Jen, and really, we’re very laid-back.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
You’ve definitely been busy! I don’t miss assigned reading though I read a lot that I never would’ve read if it wasn’t required so I guess it wasn’t all bad. Hopefully you’ll find them all readable and the discussions will at least me interesting. Have a great week!
It is mostly really good, actually… There was this one book last week that was very slow going for me, but it was still good 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Katherin!
Yeah, it can be tough to read books for class sometimes because you don’t always love them and you don’t usually get a ton of time to read them. It’s much easier to read quicker if you love what you’re reading!
True, and also, when I read for myself, I don’t have to pay such close attention to specific details! This one class is about air as a literary element, so we are looking for everything that has to do with air 😀
I do not miss those “have to” reads. Hopefully this week will not be as busy. Have a good one.
This week should definitely be calmer, and I really need that 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Nise’.
Looks like you had a great week. I also loved Grace’s post about organization. I really needed that and went and bought a notebook at Target yesterday to start my planning! Have a great week. 🙂
I organize my stuff differently, but it’s always good to get some new ideas to keep on top of everything! I’m glad you’ve found the perfect notebook for your own planning, Laura 🙂
Totally agree with you about reading books for school- you can’t just say “meh, this sucks” and move on! Though actually, I did that all the time, but let’s say you SHOULDN’T hahah. I have been so, so busy this past week too. It’s overwhelming for sure, and I am desperately trying to catch up! Thanks for sharing these posts too, I have a few new tabs open now 😀 Hope you have a wonderful week!
LOL, I have partly skimmed some books for classes, as long as I was able to say something about it in class, I was good – I’d just choose one of the other ones to write my paper on 🙂
This week will be a bit slower for me, thank goodness! I hope you’ll be able to slow things down a bit as well, Shannon.
I never liked assigned reading, even when i enjoyed the book. There was just too much pressure to read it, even when I didn’t feel up to it. Hopefully you enjoy them though, and I hope you have a good week!
Most of the time, it’s all good 🙂 But I really look forward to finish my MA so I don’t have to have assigned reading again 😀
Sorry to hear you feel overwhelmed. Studying, Reading and teaching sounds like an awesome way to get overwhelmed though 🙂 I wish I could catch up with all my reading to take part in the 2016 New Release Challenge! I feel so 2014 LOL maybe I should do COYER and finish all those 75%, 86% 90% DNFs I have!
I loved Cait @ Paper Fury’s “Bookblogger Problems” post. So funny. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ha! I don’t think I’ll ever catch up on all my books, Daniela, but I always read new releases every year anyway.
Do you really want to completely finish your DNFs? That’s heroic!
Goodness, you were busy last week! I hope this week isn’t quite as busy. I’m busy this week but it’s family time so I’m not complaining! 😉 Berk is in driver’s ed this week and Sky and Jax have spent some time today coloring. *ha* They’re enjoying their break! Thanks for the shout out. I, as ever, appreciate it! <3
**BIG HUGS**
This week is much slower, which is awesome! I really needed that. I still have lots of things to do, but no fires to put out 😀
I’m glad you’re enjoying your Thanksgiving break! *BIG HUGS*
Being busy is great but it’s also nice to slow down too. I hope this week isn’t as hectic for you Lexxie. Happy reading!
It’s definitely not as hectic this week, so I’ve been playing catch-up 😉
Yes, you sound very busy. What novels are you reading for class? I’m so bad at reading books that I’ve no interest in but I do think the discussions afterwards would be great!
Thanks for linking up such interesting posts too, I’ve missed some of those (too busy here too!) so I’ll go check them out now.
For last week’s class, we read Tourmaline by Randolph Stow, and for this week, we read Breath by Tim Winton. I only take one literature class this semester, all my other classes are linguistics.
Thanks for stopping by, Trish!
Twitter: Mollykatie112
I can’t even imagine being as busy as that! Is your course a literature course? I always forget what country you are in, so I started to say English course and I know that probably doesn’t work!I remember my literature classes in college, and we read a lot of classics. If you love classics that is fine, but not so much if you don’t!
That one class is English literature, Lorna. I’m doing my MA in English language and literature. The professor for this class is specialized in contemporary literature, and the class is really interesting, as we’re looking at air as a literary element.