Reading is Inevitable

I'd like to use this post to discuss periods of inactivity on bookstagram, including what they are, how they happen, and what happens as a result of them, as well as a little story about our own, current state of inactivity. Periods of inactivity. We all have them, right? Those days or maybe even weeks where you don't post anything. Whether it's because of a lack of time or inspiration, camera issues or personal issues, we all have them at some point. In fact, if you keep up with our bookstagram, you would know that we are actually in a state of inactivity right now. A good amount of the time, periods of inactivity aren't planned. (Or at least that's the case with us.) They just happen because you're busy and don't have the time, or something sudden has happened. Sometimes, you just can't post one day and then the next, and so on and so on until, when you actually have the time to post, you're so "out of practice" that you simp...

As of Wednesday, June 21st, summer is officially here. Ah: summer. That season when the sun comes out and kids get off from school. And, yes, while this does sound nice, this also means that it's going to be really hot and you're going to have so much time on your hands that you won't know what to do with it. Lucky for me, however, I also happen to own a whole bunch of books that I haven't yet read. That's reasonable, though, right? Us bookworms find it a little hard to buy just one book when going to the bookstore, and since you kinda have a reputation for loving books, there's a good chance that you'll receive two or three books around holidays and birthdays. And you don't even want to get me started about book sales. Therefore, the books just start to pile up a bit. And while you'd love to read them, school and/or work and just life in general gets in the way. However, the school year ended quite a bit ago. Summer vacation has begun. I fi...

Now that we're more or less halfway through 2017, I decided that it's about time to do a little update on how well Em and I are doing with the reading goals we made for ourselves at the beginning of 2017. We didn't make our goals extremely specific. All we did was choose a number based on how much we wanted to read and what seemed reasonable based on how much we knew we had read in 2016. And now it's time to reflect on those goals... oh boy. I honestly don't think things are going well for Em. When I asked her if she remembered her original goal, she had no clue. (It was 50 books!) But, after a few months with only one book finished at the end of each one, she had lessened her goal to a more reasonable 30. (She couldn't remember this number, either!) Drawing knowledge from my experience with my monthly goals for Reading is Inevitable, I don't think that you can do all too well if you don't remember your goals. And it looks like this is true for E...

Back in early June of 2016 (June 3rd, 2016, to be exact), I wrote a letter to "future" me on my hopes and dreams for Reading is Inevitable, not only including the blog but also the bookstagram. Now that it's been over a year and "future me" is now "present me", it was time to open up the letter and see how much Reading is Inevitable has grown! To read my letter, read the text below. Dear Julia, How is the blog? I am sure that it is not exactly what you have wanted for the blog at this point. Running a blog is tough! Oh, don’t forget to write that post on what you have learned so far, blah blah blah. Although, if you decided to follow schedule, you should have already written it. If not, you’re late! Anyway, moving on, I suppose I should write down some of my wishes and hopes for the blog at this point. I hope that we have a new design (not too fond of the current one…?), or at least that it’s a bit more colorful or bright. I hope that Emi...

This summer I am challenging myself to read some popular young adult books. Why would I do this? And why would this even be a challenge? Well, if you know me or have paid attention to the types of books I read through the blog or bookstagram, you would know that I typically don't like the popular young adult or teen books. The books that are popular these days tend to lean towards the fantasy or dystopian genre. Series such as Harry Potter or Divergent or The Mortal Instruments are examples of these fantasy/dystopian popular books. And, personally, I'm not as interested in these genres. Other popular books include those with romance in them, and I've never been too fond of these books as well. For instance, The Fault in Our Stars ? Eh, not much of a fan. And, sure: Having different preferences in books is perfectly okay. I just thought that it might be a good idea to read some of these books because I am completely lost when going on bookstagram. What's a shadow...

Even though I didn't really do much of anything for the blog or bookstagram this month, I still decided that I should write a monthly reflection for this month. After all, these reflections are supposed to help me grow and improve the blog and our bookstagram, so why should I skip one just so I could ignore my faults and mistakes? If you didn't already know, I make these monthly reflections to reflect on Reading is Inevitable's progress on the blog and bookstagram and also discuss plans and hopes for the next month. If you would like to see more, be sure to check out the monthly reflections label. Looking Back Into June The Blog Remember how I said that I didn't do well this past month? Well, this is just another warning. So be warned. For June, pageviews dropped to an even lower number than they were in May, decreasing by an unfortunate but expected 45%. I also failed to post at all until the 19th of June.  Bookstagram While we did lose followers ...

Today I'm sharing with you another installment of the Navigating Bookstagram series! (Yay!) Something that you've probably seen around bookstagram by now are the monthly challenges that some bookstagramers hold every month. (That's why they're called monthly challenges....) Monthly challenges can be really helpful, especially when you're just starting out as a bookstagrammer. A monthly challenge is basically a list of picture prompts for you to continue throughout the month. Some prompts are based on a holiday that might occur on that day (ex. red, white, and blue on the United States' Independence Day). Prompts can be specific or vague, leaving room for interpretation. (Although some bookstagrammers do have explanation of prompts available in their captions or on other platforms such as blogs.) Most prompts are posted by the bookstagramer(s) hosting them in the form of pictures on Instagram, so that you and other participating bookstagrammers can post t...