whilereadingandwalking

[whilereadingandwalking]

Do you prefer paperbacks or hardcover? Also, where/how do you find new books to read? Love your blog! 💕☀️

I'm a paperback girl! I like to read on the go, whether it's walking, on public transit, or in line at events. I don't like my book to be bulky or heavy when I can avoid it, and I'd love for it to fit well in my hands—so I generally prefer paperback. Especially now that I have the fibro, too, my hands can get achy, so even at home, reading a big (size-wise, hardcovers feel top-heavy in your hands) or heavy book can be a bit painful for me. So unless it's a very pretty book or first edition, I usually try and go for paperback.

Now, I'm very lucky to be in the middle of a really lovely book community, so I hear about great books from every direction. I follow readers who I find interesting or who like similar things as I do on Instagram and on here, and see what they're reading or what they recommend. I hear from my fellow Book Riot writers and trawl through lists of upcoming SFF releases to see if there's anything I missed. And sometimes, I do the old classic: I wander an indie bookstore and look for things that catch my eye or come staff-recommended!

[whilereadingandwalking]

i wrote a book and am looking to get it reviewed. As someone who reviews books do you have any suggestions or advice for small authors trying to promote their books?

Hi! It's tremendously difficult out there for small authors, and I'm not on the publicist end, but I'll do my best.

I would encourage you to try and find bloggers who read similar things to your book, and ask them kindly if they'd take a chance and be willing to get a copy for review.

Keep in mind that no blogger is obligated to read the book, even if you sent it to them, and don't pressure them too much to do so. Sometimes no news is better than a poor review if it wasn't their scene.

Don't interact with bad reviews. It is never worth your time. Best case, the person still didn't like it; worst case, you'll dig yourself a hole by coming after someone who took a chance on your book. Some of my best interactions with authors have been characterized by a combination of transparency and professionalism.

Finally, copyedit! Carefully! Hire a copyeditor if you have the resources. We review a lot of uncorrected proofs, so we understand a hidden typo here or there, but a certain concentration of errors will make most bloggers DNF.

I hope this helps!

[whilereadingandwalking]

Which Art Books would you recommend?

Hi! I don't have a huge number of art books, but I do have some. To be honest, some of my favorites are from exhibitions I went to and needed the book—Savage Beauty, from the 2014 exhibition at the Met honoring Alexander McQueen, or Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan, from the Art Institute.

I also have a couple art books from modern artists I follow, such as Fancy Van Gogh by Alirexa Karimi Moghaddam. And some art / coffee table books I adored in recent years include the glorious Black Futures and Sasha Velour's Velour: The Drag Magazine collector's edition. I also have a beautiful volume of selections from Frida Kahlo's journals that I bought and rather painstakingly lugged home from Mexico City. And I have some lovely collections of the art from Miyazaki and Pixar.

But to be frank, I don't buy too many art books as they're expensive, and heavy! Unexpected, most of those books are from when I was young, and my family was delighted by how much I loved art. I have books on Edgar Degas, Van Gogh, the ruins of Pompeii. I'm hoping to add some more to my collection with some of the modern artists I've been lucky enough to enjoy recently!

[whilereadingandwalking]

I had issues with Tricia Hersey's Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto, which was disappointing, because I wholeheartedly believe in and support the Nap Ministry's thesis that learning to rest and actively making space for rest is an act of resistance against the grind culture that encourages more productivity at all costs. Hersey encourages followers to trust their bodies, and to make time to detox from social media, enjoy nature, nap, and daydream, reclaiming ourselves from capitalism's clutches. To take time to rest, without guilt. To create safe spaces, disconnect our worth from our labor, and reject the scarcity myth.

Unfortunately, the writing did not work for me. It reminded me more of an oral presentation structure: constantly coming back around to remind us of the thesis. It quickly got repetitive, and probably would have been stronger at 1/4 the length. The daydreaming chapter was the strongest because she draws on clear and interesting examples from education to her own experience, but much of the book lacked further development or nuance for her arguments.

For example, at one point she says that rest is a right, not a privilege, and that she is bothered by people who claim the latter. Which is fine, I was excited to see that argument. But she just kind of asserts it and moves on, and mere pages later she describes taking month-long "Sabbaths" where she is completely off social media, email, and work, and simply focuses on "sleeping, silence, napping daily, lots of detox salt baths...friends and family, and total nesting at the house." Which, great for her. But the average person cannot simply opt in to that practice. Too often, it seems Hersey pictures a person who gives their all to their company and works 2 side hustles because they think they have to, but doesn't seem to be addressing the woman working 60-hour weeks just to feed her family. How can we move towards a society where rest is a possibility for the average human—advocate for shorter work weeks, better support, higher minimum wage?

I agree that we don't need to know it all right now (as Mariame Kaba says, we don't need to have every answer for our future before pushing for a better one). But I found her repeated insistence that we all just need to "opt out" of grind culture a little shallow without further development. "Do not let your lack of money and possessions make you feel negative about your worth as a human being," is a nice thing to say, but ignores so much of what poverty does to the body. It reminded me of being depressed and being told to adopt a more positive mindset.

And I was absolutely puzzled by her analysis of maroons, Black people who escaped slavery and made their own communities, as "Black people navigating the terror of chattel slavery by refusing to be a part of it...They were not runaways, and instead they simply never accepted the role of enslavement and never allowed the plantation to be home." (She later encourages readers, "Be a maroon. Decide you ain't ever going back to enslavement.") Now, there are real undercurrents between Black liberation and her ministry, and it is true that capitalism and slavery are deeply interwoven. But again, without deeper engagement, these connections come off as intensely shallow and under-developed. I really wanted to like this one, but sadly, the execution let Hersey's very meaningful work down.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Do I look A. thriving B. medium or C. wrecked?

The answer is C. Unless you know me, though, you probably can’t know that I’m in the middle of an atrocious flare (and probably even if you do—I’m pretty good at masking). My body is seized up, brain fog is heavy, I’ve been overheating hard all day, and I’m liable to trip or run into things when I’m this bad because my joints loosen up and my reflexes are clumsier.

This is a reminder that invisible illnesses and disabilities are everywhere. You can’t know someone’s status or need for access by looking at them. And for many people (aka me) it’s variable. One day, standing might be fine on the bus. The next, I’m feeling cautious so take the elevator if there’s time. The next, I go to squat and legit just fall down. And then take 2 minutes to stand back up.

So next time you feel the desire to scoff at someone who looks fine but opts for elevator over stairs, the accessible seats on a crowded bus, etc, keep in mind that even the most eagle-eyed person can’t possibly know everyone’s status by sight.

[whilereadingandwalking]

I'm a travel lover, and a romantic, and demisexual who's a sucker for friends-to-lovers, so...The Pairing was constructed to be deadly for me. When you add Casey McQuiston's tremendous skill for writing chemistry and a compelling set of side characters, you get this absolutely sumptuous romance novel about two childhood friends turned partners turned exes who end up on the same European food and wine tour together, and end up inventing a sex competition rather than admit how much they want to bone each other.

Putting aside the romance for a moment, the food! the wine! McQuiston dialed up all my wanderlust and made me deeply, deeply upset that I won't be able to afford another adventure for a while yet. Their descriptions are astounding. And for the places I've been, I can attest that they're so, so accurate (the Sagrada Familia is a work of genius). But back to the romance. The sex is hot, the yearning is hotter, and the eventual crashing together is of course hottest. I fell in love with Theo's point-of-view, and thought I'd be disappointed to leave it behind, only to discover that Kit's devastatingly poetic romantic lens actually managed to make me cry just because he was so frickin in love ("I knew her before her arches had points, before the paint to finish her had been invented. What a wonder, what a miracle: somehow, more of her.")

Also a great Pride Month read: the bisexual vibes were Strong with this one. I swear to god everyone is bi or pan in this book and it's glorious. Add on some kink and a story of nonbinary discovery and it's a fantastic read for June.

Content warnings for accidental misgendering, grief.

[whilereadingandwalking]

I loved this spicy, cozy romantasy by Kristen Vale! Want my full thoughts? You’ll just have to attend the book launch at Women and Children First to find out! We’ll be in conversation about the delightful A Tale of Mirth & Magic on August 8.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Bit exhausted with it all, to be honest: from an upcoming move to the rise of fascism to people acting like a pop artist’s album cover is the apocalypse, I’m wiped. (Also apocalypse is one of those words I just cannot spell. I wasn’t meant for these times.)

[whilereadingandwalking]

The most unhinged thing Samantha Shannon said to me in March is that all of her worldbuilding lives in her head. No big notebooks or outlined documents. Just in her head. Reading the 800-page The Priory of the Orange Tree made that knowledge absolutely wild.

It’s an epic trilogy in one volume. A different editor or publisher would have told her to cut it up, and you can see where she could have. I’m glad she didn’t. I prefer to read series in one big stream and that’s what this felt like. Ead, Tané, and their quest, the grand dragons, the swirling coincidences and politics. I lived for it. Someday I hope to write high fantasy like this.

Content warnings for substance abuse, violence, death/grief, miscarriage, suicidal ideation, torture.

[whilereadingandwalking]

“All the while, I’ll await my armored fate with a smile / Still wanna try, still believe in good days, always”

—ready for SZA / Kendrick @ Soldier Field

[whilereadingandwalking]

We’re moving later this summer, so here comes the most dreaded moment of any book lover’s life…time to pack up all these books! 😩

[whilereadingandwalking]

Reading and walking: 9/10 stars

Reading and walking during lilac season: 15/10 stars!!!

[whilereadingandwalking]

Ready for summer ☀️

[whilereadingandwalking]

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid is a really fun page-turning read that reimagines the Scottish play in a historical-fiction approach, imbued with some fantasy and led by Roscille, a young woman married off and rumored to be cursed by a witch.

There were parts of the story that stretch credibility a bit, and Roscille can be a frustrating lead in that she’s extremely sharp and seems to know what she’s starting, yet is often surprised that her actions have consequences. And I’m always a skeptical reader when it comes to insta-love, which I think this book honestly could have simply allowed a little more time for.

But ultimately, I blazed through this book. The historical politics of culture and prejudice were fascinating adds to the story. The magical realism–ness of her veil (“her eyes can cause madness in men,” or can they?) was genius, and has the most exciting implications of anything in the novel, still presenting me with new doubts and questions now. The interpretation of the witches, the introduction of a compelling succession story, and the ever-present thesis that men are the worst make this a fast and furious read.

Content warnings for suicidal ideation, violence, domestic abuse, sexual assault, ableist language, torture.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Sleep is good but books are better.

@ Gertrude & Alice, Bondi, Australia

[whilereadingandwalking]

Peonies and good books on this sunny Memorial Day.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Cozy reading nights. ♥️