Saturday B.S: Alex- @Fanboyreader

Saturday Blogger Special

Episode 8: Alex- @Fanboyreader

This week, we welcome Alex, a fellow Spanish speaker, with amazing, AMAZING instagram pictures, I've actually been following for a while now, serious goals right there.

I feel like imma be talking a lot about peoples instagram photos xD

These people just seriously take amazing book pictures!

Now, moving on to getting to know Alex a bit more.

Name: Alex

Where can we stalk you?

-Facebook: don’t have.

-Twitter: @musicbookseries but I only use it in Spanish and not only for bookish things. Just in general.

-Blog: don’t have a blog (yet)

-Goodreads: goodreads.com/fanboyreader were’s where I post all my reviews and updates.

-Instagram: sure, @Fanboyreader that’s my principal bookish media.

-Other: Tumblr maybe? But I don’t use it daily. http://musicbookseries.tumblr.com/

1. How long have you been blogging?

I created my Instagram account about three or four years ago, but it was a personal account. Then, about a year ago (September 2014) I decided to delete all my post and start posting about books. I also post all my reviews on Goodreads. 

2. How did you come up with your blog name?

It was difficult to find an original name. I wanted a short name, original and that defines me. I liked fanboyreader, I thought it was cool, and I still love it!

V: Its good! I like it xD

3. How would you describe your love for books?

I would describe it as passionate. I started reading in 2012 with The Hunger Games. I saw the film and I was so shocked that I immediately bought the books and read them. Since then, I started to love books more and more and now they’re a very important part of my life.

V: Same here! well, Twilight got me into reading, and of course I was already a Harry Potter Fan, but THG was my biggest fandom, one that truly changed my life, I mean come on, this blog was actually dedicated to The Hunger Games at first and I have 3 instagram pages dedicated to the cast xD

4. How often do you post?

I tried to post once a day (Instagram) but with school it’s getting more and more difficult to post once a day, so I try to post at least three or four times a week, as much as I can. It also depends on how much do I read at the moment. If I’m very busy, I have no time to read, and I don’t have anything to post.

5. Favorite series?

My favorite books are definitely The Hunger Games, and my favorite series is Harry Potter.

V: Le gasp. ME TOO!

6. One genre you would never read?

I usually read Young Adult (sci-fi, contemporary, fantasy…) but I’ve never read essays, for example.

7. First blog post?

Uh, I think it was about some of my favorite books? I think I deleted it a long time ago.

8. Have you ever thought of writing a book?

Yes, I would love to write a book, but I have no time for writing. It’s difficult to find time even for reading when I’m with school. So I don’t write, but I would like to. And I want to wait also to improve my English skills. I would love to write in English, but I don’t feel I’m good enough yet.

9.Chocolate or vanilla?

Definitely chocolate.

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Its definitely not easy being a bookworm, Alex has done an amazing job is telling us about the biggest struggle. Real life. Whether it's school or a job, the time to read or post can be seriously affect. Well, I will say this, can't wait to see if you will one day create a blog :D

Make sure to check out Alex's profiles, and this is it for this weeks Saturday B.S, with yet another passionate bookworm.

Review: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Rate:

4/5

Goodreads Description:

A classic mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the first in the Sherlock Holmes series. See how Holmes and Watson met for the first time. A baffling murder with puzzling clues and evil villains takes place and the cocaine-addicted, cold and quirky detective, with his razor-sharp deductive mind and obsessive attention to detail, is on the case. Told from the journals of his faithful companion, Dr. John Watson, join us for a trip to 221B Baker Street and the beginning of the legend of Sherlock Holmes.

Review:

First: The illustrations, thats what is different from the original so thats what ill talk about first xD

I was NOT expecting the characters to look like that at all xD But that doesnt mean I didnt like them lol A LOT, they were entertaining to look at. I probably spent more time looking at the pictures than I did reading the book.

Onto the book. I was kind of confused towards the middle, there was some funny parts and I liked that, its .. The way its written is super formal but keep in mind the time period in which it was written, so some of the writing seems odd. Okay so there was a part 2 inside of this book that I had no idea existed. When I first started reading it I was super confused, it was a complete opposite of what I had read in the first part, but the scenes were so beautiful, and soon enough it started making sense. It would've made better sense to me if I had paid total attention to the book in the first part xD Like I was later like "DUHHHHH get your stuff together Vale!"

Anyways, its was enjoyable, the illustrations were pretty cool, kid friendly, you could say but since it IS Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur, its more like.. middle school kids..

Recommend it?

Of course, its a classic

Topic Tuesday: Reader vs. Blogger

Episode 10: Reading as a reader VS. Blogger

Some people might be like, oh there is no difference in reading as a reader than reading as a blogger.

OH BUT THERE IS!

At least I think there is and here is why:

Specific parts in a book:

Readers- Depending on the things that have happened in your life plots in a book might affect you differently than it does as the person next to you. For example, Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid, there are things towards the end of the book that I HATED to the ends of the earth and back because similar thing had happened in my real world that resembled thing in the book. The reason I hated it was because I wanted to be able to see different outcomes even if it was less realistic. If my life at the moment had been different, I would not have hated the book so much.

Blogger- You have to be able to kind of detach your own personal history and just focus on the atual feeling of the book. Again, Never Always Sometimes. As a reader, I hated it, when I went to write the review, it was just awful and full of rants. The next day I went back and re-read the review and well..

I knew that in reality, the book was not bad at all, the plot was solid and it had an unexpected ending which is good. So I deleted my whole original review and re-did the review with the point of view of  blogger that had NOT gone through similar events and saw the book as it actually was. I admire Never Always Sometimes as a blogger, its a great book, well written, solid plot and good ending. As a reader (ME), I want to burn it.

Popular Books:

Reader- My example will be Illuminae by Amie Kaufman. Everyone was reading the book and I was just not into it.. At all, but I read it anyways. The way it was written annoyed me. I understood that it made it seem like it was a real thing, as if it was actual files being pulled together to form the story. But I simply hated it, it really bothered me.

Blogger- As a blogger, I thought the book was pure genius, the cover is SO beautiful, (y'all have to see it in person) , I was able to enjoy the content more than as a reader, to really pay attention to the story. You also try to look past the fat if it is your type of book or not, because you want to be able to review and see what everyone else it talking about.

ARC's:

Reader- I am excited as hell to be able to read a book before anyone else, if it is a story I am particularly fond of I will be even MORE excited to jump right into the story and continue the adventure. If I don't want to get into the story, I simply wait.

Blogger- I feel like there is a certain pressure to get the review out as fast as possible. Being able to get an ARC is precious, not everyone can get ARC's and they are supposed to create hype for the book and to remain on a publishers good side I feel like we have to be able to review the book before the release.

It might not actually be the way I see it, but it's the way I feel about ARC's

Writing: 

Reader- You get into the story and look past the way a book is written. Mainly because you know that maybe you would do a worse job then the author did at writing the book. You think that it might be done on purpose. Who knows, who cares, as long as the story is decent

Blogger- You judge the writing worse thann an english teacher would. The writing is suddenly important and it does get in the way on whether the book is good our not. Sure the story is good and you will continue to read it but it sure as hell bothers you. 

I wont say any titles

When I review a book, I try to add equal parts of reader and blogger in the review. I try to tell the review as I would tell it to a friend. Which is another reason I tend to write so informally in my review. 

I want to be able to write something that people will relate to and want to read.

Even if it is just to make fun of the way I write xD