Bookish Musings
I have always found the book world fascinating, and now that I am between jobs and juggling motherhood, I have also found some time to explore that interest a bit further. I am not naturally a literature writer (scientific writer by training) and I don’t really think I will be turn out to be much of a social media influencer either! However, I do like the idea of trying out new things and the book world seems a good place to try them out. A fancy way of saying, reading will always be my first love and producing reviews and the odd recommendation are huge part of that and this blog. However, I hope you will kindly indulge me whilst I also explore themes that I am interested in, by way of video, audio and on occasion in writing. Will they be profound? Probably not, but I am huge believer that life is rich tapestry of shared thoughts and values, and that it is always nice to exchange experiences and see the world from a different vantage point (that said your space is your space and you should never feel that you have to engage with those you don’t wish to!) I would like to say this will be a weekly feature but I’m not sure yet, I do know that it will be a feature and we’ll see where it goes!
Spicy Vs Sweet ?
When I first set my Booktube channel up -way back in January this year- I made a little introduction about my reading interests and preferences. One of the preferences I discussed was whether I liked Sweet or Spicy books (see above) and I explored how my choices had changed over time (I apologise in advance for the sound quality). I think this is a topic that seemingly comes up regularly on BookTube and there have been some really good discussions of late (I have linked to one below).
Ultimately, I always think it sad that our personal choices must always link to a wider theme or interplay/ intersect with other societal concerns. I don’t really agree that morality should be attached to what people choose to read. There are many things I don’t like to read and I would never presume to lecture on how people use their precious free time, and I genuinely think we should extend each other the same courtesy. As long as those involved are consenting adults, I do not think our choices merit wider concern or judgement. That, I think is the crux of the issue. Women are always judged (and, I suspect, are likely doing much of the judging) for so much of our personal choices, and a battleground over Spicy or Sweet just seems a little bit pointless.
Words have so much power, to move us and our emotions, to unite us and divide us. Every story is a gift of an experience; a passage to another world and we all can exercise our individual consent to engage or not. No one should be shamed for their choice. We don’t all like the same things and we don’t all have to. That is the beauty of free will. I like to read to stories that contain intimacy. I think, when it is well written, it adds weight and dimension to a story. A physical and emotional unification of characters can really enhance a Romance story. That is a personal opinion of mine and not everyone will agree with that, nor do I have to justify my opinion. I don’t think there is a wider point to today’s musings, other than I was inspired by the video discussion and I think it is an important discussion. Do I wish we could stop having the same discussion? I confess, I do. Because as long as the commentary is framed as Sweet vs. Spicy, as opposed to Sweet or Spicy. Then value judgements will continue to be made about those who chose to produce and those who chose to consume, and I think we are all worse off for that.
ARC update 📚
I am happy to share that I have got a new ARC to review and I will be sharing before the end of the month. I have also applied to a few a different places, as well as joining Net Galley and Book Sprout. I am quite excited about starting to do this and for the time being I am planning to keep numbers low while I learn the ropes. At some point, I will set up section that links directly to ARC reviews.
