Month In Review, and Upcoming Critiques

My Reading Nook

May, a Month in Review:

I think I have the hang of blogging, but then again, I'm kind of waiting on the minute when somebody pinches me and it doesn't hurt (that happens a lot, especially when I dream I'm a famous author). I learned the power of Twitter, and why you should pay attention to hashtags, as my post Why "We Need Diverse Books" outshone any other post on my blog, period. Admittedly, I'm finding it difficult to diversify my reading habits in physical books, but finding e-books with different cultures represented is a snap. I also learned why my blog wasn't getting any comments (a huge thank you to Roberta R. of Offbeat YA for bringing that to my attention [P.S. Her blog is awesome]), and promptly tried (and failed) to change my comments to Disqus, but Blogger comments seem to work just as well. Also, I quit fiddling with my blog appearance- I'm done with it for now, and I'm trying to keep the perfectionist side of me occupied with other things. I also found posting a critique every day during "Bout of Books" week didn't increase my blog views, contrary to popular opinion, but at least I have more content for people to browse. Overall, May has been kind to Victorian Soul Critiques, and I'm looking forward to see what June brings.

Statistics:

 Total Posts: 25
 Total Critiques: 18 (one to be published tomorrow)
 Genre:
    Classics: 2
    Dystopia: 2
    Fantasy: 5
    Historical: 5
    Paranormal: 1
    Paranormal Romance: 3
    Romance: 10

    Sci-fi: 2

    Urban Fantasy: 3

Most Popular Posts of the Month:

   Why "We Need Diverse Books"

   "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

   "The Scribe (Irin Chronicles #1)" by Elizabeth Hunter

   The Sunday Fun 5 #2: Villains

Pageviews For the Month: 410+

 Comments: 10!

Blog Schedule and Features: Critiques on Tuesdays, Thursdays, sometimes Fridays, and Saturdays. On Sundays, I rotate between the Sunday Fun Five, and Confessions of an Insomniac Book Devourer.

Currently Reading: Second Nature by Alice Hoffman, Thief's Magic (Millenium's Rule #1) by Trudi Canavan, and I suspect I will read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley very soon.

Upcoming Critiques:

Here's a look at what I've been polishing for the month of June:

Chasers of the Wind (Chasers of the Wind #1) by Alexey Pehov. Yes, I realize I've tempted you with this before, but when Tor books asks me to wait until two weeks before the book is released to post my critique, I gladly oblige. Sometime after 6 PM Mountain Time, on June 3rd, this book's review will grace my blog. It is epic fantasy featuring a married couple which is highly unusual. 

Genres: Epic Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Magic, Series

Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin. This book really doesn't need much introduction, as most of you have probably heard of the series, or its television counterpart. I began reading this shortly after I watched the first episode, and quickly abandoned the television series in favor of the books. I hadn't heard of this series before, as I wasn't on Goodreads, and I was barely out of my version of high school. This is probably the most popular fantasy series that is still being written (Mr. Martin is frequently told to write faster, but I say write more action and less wandering).

Genres: Epic Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Horror, Heroes I Love, Heroines I Love, Series

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This is an oddly controversial book: at the time it was published, people didn't like that African-Americans were represented as humans. Nowadays, people hate it because they consider it racist. I call it a product of its time, and admit it is racist, but somewhat less racist than many other novels that people consider classics. An epic romance and ode to the American South, Gone With the Wind is a book that people either love or hate.

Genres: Historical, Romance, Heroines I Love, Heroes I Love, Curses

The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Another book about books, this book takes place in Barcelona in 1945, where young Daniel finds a book by an author whose works are mysteriously vanishing.

Genres: Historical, Romance, Action/Adventure, Series