Category: Ramble Sessions

Whatever I feel like I wanna do.

My ARC Journey

So, I actually had a break from school for nearly 2 months this year.  This is not a thing I have had since 2024.  As is most normal for me I started gorging myself on library books, renewed my Kindle Unlimited and started gorging on those, and began chipping away at my physical TBR.  

What changed this time is I decided to check out my goodreads, which I have used previously in an attempt to keep track of my physical books (goodreads is not great for this).  For some reason I decided to pick around on the website (goodreads is best experienced through the desktop – something about the app is a bit knaff in my opinion). Somehow, someway I came across the giveaways page (a thing I had never heard of before).

Some background about me, I am broke – I’m a student, I work 30 hours a week (so, I make very little money, and most of my money goes to my dogs when I actually have any), and it’s been this way since like 2023, my savings? Decimated.  

As I am a broke student, the library is my best friend (Libby is basically the only thing standing between me and an entire loss of sanity) the other thing? Used bookstores. Mine closed last year.  This led me to read mostly classics as I own quite a few (inheritance) and they are in the public domain (sketchy epub downloads for the free) and it’s not even a little bit illegal.

As I have very little money, and even less desire to spend said money, I was intrigued by the giveaways, and signed up for a few, fully expecting to win approximately none of them.  But I did win one.

And then I won some more… and I realized that I was majorly missing out on new books. I learned that I really like leaving reviews on books, I like putting my thoughts out there, I like looking back on what I read, I love when I get the chance to read debut novels (no previous opinions clouding the waters). I love when I am lucky enough to interact with authors.

My new year’s resolution for the rest of forever is to try and read more recently released books (and to review all of my GoodReads Books). I’m having fun with it.

I already had this website (thanks dad) and so I decided to start posting and while I’m sure just about no one is here to read it, I am glad I’ll get to look back on my reading this year whenever I want to.

Signed Books

I thought I didn’t care about signed books, I mean, it’s cool that the author held that book, but as a reader of classics, where most of the authors I love are passed, I cannot afford said signed books (if they even exist).

 

This was until my lovely mother took me to “An Inconceivable Evening” with Cary Ewles that I got the bug.  I know, a movie showing. Leave it to me to find the books at any and all events, lord knows if they are there – I’m going to sniff them out.

 

Now, I had no idea Cary Eweles had even written a book, much less that it was one about the Princess Bride (truly this is criminal, I can’t pick a favorite book to save my life, but I have a favorite movie and it is 210% this).

 

Nevermind that, when I say that I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this book stand. I mean it. I grabbed my mother’s sleeve like a godd*mn 5 five year old and stood there all starry eyed, just like those toys you wanted at the supermarket checkout. I. Needed.  One. Of. Those. Books. Freaking Westly had touched those books. I absolutely required one.

 

Now, did I totally overpay for a paperback? Oh, yes. Yes I did.  Would I have paid double for it? Yes, indeed.

 

Now I’m on a bit of a kick.  I have a Susanna Clarke and a Jonathan Sims signed copy in the mail from the UK (thank you https://www.welbooks.co.uk/), paid more for the shipping than the books. No regerts. (count your days Cary Ewles, my wallet has a score to settle)

 

There is something really special about signed editions, and while I’m not going to be going nuts and buying a million, my two favorite living authors and my favorite movie certainly suffice for now. Assuming I don’t find any more that I don’t own, or -hope beyond all hopes- if an author comes to South Carolina for a signing and by some miracle if I am not late to it like I am to everything else.

‘Overconsumption’ of Books

So, I’m pretty sure that this is ragebait, and as a fully grown adult I should roll my eyes, get off social media and go back to my books. Instead I’ve chosen to take the bait.

 

Most of my friends have told me, at least once, that they think I will judge them for: the type of books they read, the format in which they read those books, or the speed at which they read said books.  I’m here to tell you babe, and let me hold your hand when I say this, I do not care at all. I asked because I was hoping we had read some of the same books and we could talk about them.

 

I suppose the type of book issue is a bit my fault, I mostly read classics – or at least quite old books for a really long time.  This is not some high-brow-I’m-classy choice.  It was because they are in the public domain.  I’m legitimately just broke.  Now do I appreciate the turns of phrase and prose of older classic novels? Absolutely.  Does it also exist in “modern” novels? Absolutely. Does it even have to exist for me to love a piece? Nope.

 

I have no idea where the format thing came from, I suppose it is not odd for me to have a paperback in my purse, and I do obviously love my home library but I also have a kindle, and a kobo, and an audible account.  Heck, one of the most common recommendations I make to people is The Magnus Archives which isn’t any of these things, it’s a freaking podcast.

 

As far as speed goes, the only person who has to worry about me complaining (about that) is my dad. And I only complain to him because I want him to finish it faster so we can debrief.

 

So imagine my surprise when I scroll on this lady talking about how there’s no way those of us who read over 100 books a year cannot possibly have retained anything and how we are ‘overconsuming’ books (which is not a thing at all). While I’m here ranting btw. A bought book is a book that’s not in a landfill, i legit do not care if its just a shelf ornament.

 

Look, I’m going to try not to be rude here but, reading is a skill.  The speed at which you read and your ability to comprehend is controllable.  [Book Rec: How to Read A Book: Mortimer J. Adler] So this argument is basically: “I have decided that my level of reading is the correct one, and anyone better than me, no matter how much work they put in to be better than me is morally compromised, or lying”.  I don’t want to know what they think of those who read less than them.

 

I have at the point of writing this read 121 books this year (2026)  between the physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks in my collection.  Some of these books are quite long and took me a lot of time to read, and some of them were well under 100 pages. I remember all of them, not that it matters much as most of what I read is for pleasure in that moment. 

 

I read slower when it is for school/work. I try harder to actually retain all the information in whatever it is that I am reading. I re-read and highlight and take notes as I have to.  But positing that I should read like that for pleasure is ridiculous.  If I forget some, or even all, of a book I was reading for pleasure two years ago, that’s fine.  It served its purpose and entertained me two years ago.  I don’t need to remember that the curtains were blue in that one novel that one time in 2024. I mean, do you remember every beat of every TV show, movie or YouTube video that you watched this year? What about YouTube Shorts or Instagram reels? TikTok? Or did you put it on to kill some time because you were bored?

 

All this to say, that’s an incredibly lame hot take, and those who make it are overconsuming social media bullsh*t and need to go outside and touch some grass.

Who am I?

Lover of all books | Always looking for something to add to my massive TBR.

I read a little bit of everything – literary fiction, thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, memoirs, Manga, LitRPG, Comics – and I read it which ever way takes my fancy at the time (Kindle, Kobo, Paperbacks – Hardcover if I really really need to, Audible, Spotify).

I love talking about books – all the good, bad, and ugly. Truly any book that is written is one I want to read and blabber on about for hours.

 

 

 

 

Featured Book Reviewer