Category: Books Page 76 of 164

7 Workouts for Book Lovers to Try

On May 19, 2022

The friendly and talented people over at Siege Media dropped by the other day with another great infographic. Check out the nice intro they provided and then the infographicgraphic. I’m going to be trying these myself.

Workouts for Book Lovers

It can be easy to get lost in a good read—laying on your couch, bed, or in your reading nook for hours at a time because the book is just too good to put down. Then, you get up and wonder where the time went. Instead of lounging while you read, why not exercise, too? Reading is the perfect activity to engage your mind while also engaging those muscles!

Here are a few workouts you can try while reading a book that supports your mental and physical fitness.

1. Literature Leg Raises

You can still relax from your couch or bed while feeling the burn of these literature leg raises. Get comfy in your favorite pair of yoga leggings, grab your favorite book and lay back for a workout that targets your abs and core.

To start, lie down on your back while holding your book with both hands in front of you. Keep your legs straight and lift them toward the ceiling. Then, slowly bring them back down while keeping your core engaged. Repeat this for four sets of 10 to 12 reps or until you feel a good burn.

2. Trilogy Treadmill Walk

One of the easiest ways to work out while reading is to prop your book right up on the treadmill while you walk. Whether you’ve got your treadmill in your home library or you’re heading to the gym, walking on the treadmill helps target your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves and can be a great way to relieve the stress of the day.

Begin by placing your book on the treadmill so it’s directly in front of you. Then, start walking at a speed that’s manageable for you. Once you’re warmed up, increase the incline level for an added burn. Walk for about 30 minutes or make a goal to walk until you’ve read a certain amount of pages or chapters. For example, walk until you’ve read 5 chapters or 100 pages.

3. Page Turner Planks

Planks are great for targeting your core and lower back and the burn won’t feel so bad if you’ve got a good book to keep you occupied. Begin in a push-up position with your book on the floor. Then, lower yourself onto your forearms. Tighten and engage your abs and core and hold for 30 to 60 seconds, or until you’ve made your page or chapter goal.

To find out the rest of the seven exercises you can do while reading a book, check out the infographic below.

WWW Wednesday, May 18, 2022

By HCNewton

On May 18, 2022

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

As I sat down to write posts for today last night, I kept getting distracted by Primary Election results—in Idaho, for good or ill, the Republican Primary election is more important than the General Election in November—state races are all but certain after it. So for every half-sentence I write, I end up spending 5 minutes looking at numbers—who knows what I’ll get written for today. At the very least, I cobbled together a WWW Wednesday.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading the fantasy novel The Traitor’s Heir by Anna Thayer and am listening to the very amusing This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor by Adam Kay on audiobook.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I grabbed the wrong book off the shelf last week, so the last book I finished was J.C. Jackson’s Conjured Defense and yesterday I finished Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, Marin Ireland (Narrator) on audio.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be the UF short story collection, Heroic Hearts edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughes, and my next audiobook should be Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! by Terry Brooks, Jeremy Arthur (Narrator). I read that a few dozen times in the last century, and figured it was time to revisit.

Blank Space

Hopefully, you’re not as distracted as I am (unless you want to be)—what are you reading?

Book Blogger Hop: Negative Reviews?

By HCNewton

On May 17, 2022

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Heather @ MM Romance Reviewed:

Do you post negative reviews?*

* I don’t see 99% of what I post about books here as a “review.” I still see Reviews as something that a professional does, in a professional manner. I’m an amateur who writes in a very casual manner. But I know I’m pretty much alone in this point of view, so for the sake of this post, I’ll use the commonly accepted usage.

There are books that are bad. Those need to be recognized as such. There are books that don’t appeal to a reader for whatever reason. Those should be acknowledged and discussed—hopefully with an eye to the positive as well as the negative. It’s okay not to like things. I personally think it’s a little strange how much some people enjoy not liking things, but that’s not for me to judge. I tend to prefer liking books, life is more enjoyable that way. But sometimes I just can’t. And that’s good. That’s the way it ought to be in this world of differences.

If I invest the time to read something, then you’d better believe I’m going to write about it—I need stuff to write about to keep this thing going.

Less pragmatically, I write to help me think about a book–and if those thoughts end up in a negative place, then I’m going to write a negative post.

But more importantly, if readers of my posts are to take me seriously when I say, “I think this is good,” or “I recommend it.” They should know that there are things I don’t think are good, things I don’t recommend. It’s easier to gauge how much weight to give a positive take on a book when you know how they react dimly to something.

Sure, I get that some bloggers don’t want to do anything negative—either because they’re inherently or deliberately encouraging, they think there’s too much negativity in the world already, or they’re firmly in the “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” camp.* I get it, I understand it, and support their decision. Still, when deciding if I’m going to read a book I’m on the fence on, they’re not likely to sway me.

* Back on my personal blog years before I started this one, I posted a response to the Spider-Man “One More Day” storyline that consisted of 3 pages of line breaks to make it very clear how much there was that I couldn’t say anything about. Sticking to the letter of the law, but trashing the spirit.

And, as almost always comes up in a discussion like this—sometimes someone will read a negative post that I or someone else writes and say, “I can see where they might not like X, but it sounds interesting to me.” I know I’ve read books that other bloggers have trashed because of something they said.

Do you promote those reviews if you post?

I’m not sure that I promote posts at all—I know I ignore Facebook’s repeated suggestions to pay for promotion. Do I share them on social media sites? Sure–I tweet the links and post them on Facebook. I post the reviews to Goodreads, StoryGraph, Hardcover, LibraryThing, and whatever other bookish sites I’m using/trying. If that counts as promotion, then yes I do. Why wouldn’t I?

What about you?

Saturday Miscellany—5/14/22

By HCNewton

On May 14, 2022

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Without really intending to, my wife and I have apparently started a collection of dragon figures on books (I know I should more properly call them bookwyrms). One day I’ll take and post some good pictures of them, but today is not that day. I need a name for one of them–we’re a little tired of saying, “that red one we got in Lincoln City.” So, hive mind: suggestions? I tend to prefer something faux-Latin.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet A school district in my town this week ignored their book review procedures and voted to ban “forever” over twenty books–go ahead and do that if you must, but do it right (and “forever”, really?). Raise a hullabaloo about Banned Books, the expected groups in the area are responding.
bullet Upset by book bans, teen starts forbidden book club in small Pa. town
bullet Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase—Rick Riordan is not pleased with some online reaction to the cast announcement for the Percy Jackson show and takes a firm stand.
bullet Q&A with Jackson Ford, author of The Frost Files—to commemorate the publication of the 4th Frost Files novel this week.
bullet Does genre matter?: When rules help and when they hinder, and how the editing process shapes genre.—One writer’s take on genre, I’d be curious to see how others approach this.
bullet All Possible Plots by Major Authors—you’ll get at least two grins from this list (probably more)
bullet How to have a comfortable read in bed—this piece from the Guaridan in 1978 holds up pretty well
bullet What a Hobby Feels Like—this isn’t about reading/books/etc. per se, but it’s a good piece and I think some of it applies.
bullet Thoughts on returning to book blogging.—were I to step away from this, I’d imagine I’d feel many of the same things
bullet Do I stand by my old reviews? Looking back on SEVEN YEARS of book blogging!—This is a brave idea.
bullet Other Bloggers Talk About 458% Traffic Increase… I’ve Yet To Get That—Pass Me That Book talks about traffic
bullet Lie About Your Age, Not About Reading Books

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Crazy in Poughkeepsie by Daniel Pinkwater—I haven’t bought/read a Pinkwater book since the 80s, but I’ve been seeing advertisements for this everywhere, I’m going to have to give it a shot.
bullet A Sh*tload of Crazy Powers by Jackson Ford—Teagan Frost is back, what more needs to be said?

WWW Wednesday, May 10, 2022

By HCNewton

On May 11, 2022

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

It’s the middle of the week, the day where I figure out just where I am and what I’m doing next and tell you about it. It’s a good exercise and for at least 15 minutes I feel like I have a handle on things. It’s a little thing I like to call WWW Wednesday! (I like to call it that because that’s its name, I’m funny that way)

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?