Commercial vs Upmarket vs Literary Fiction

The other day I had to do a google search on the differences between commercial, upmarket, and literary fiction. Like, I could tell you which category a book goes into, but I couldn’t tell you why.

My search was very profitable. Check out this great infographic from Carly Watters that explains the differences.

I read commercial fiction when I want to be entertained and I’m tired (mostly on the weekends).

I make an effort to read literary fiction. It’s like exercise—I know it’s important, it’s good for me, and there is some form of pleasure in it, but it does take effort and willpower.

My favorite books usually fall into the upmarket fiction category. Quality yet accessible writing, perfect for discussion (and thinking and journaling and blogging), universal themes, and a combo of literary + commercial all make sense as to why I like this category best. The Book Thief, The Night Circus, The Help, The Hundred Secret Senses… Love em.

Which category is your favorite?

Top Ten-ish TBR For Beach Haters

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about beach reads!

Two problems:
1. I hate the beach. Mountains ftw.
2. It’s delightfully fallish and rainy and cold down here in the southern hemisphere! I’m currently wrapped up in blankies and sweaters and leggings.

One thing that kinda really bothers me is how northern hemisphere seasons dominate content of what is going on in the other half of the world, where, btw, things are opposite! This is not the fault of The Broke and the Bookish by any means. But, for example, I’m talking advertising and seasonal products from McDonald’s say things like “Cool down with a refreshing smoothie” in Portuguese in July… the coldest part of the year for São Paulo, when a normal day is overcast, rainy, and has a high of 15C/60F. Or like right now Starbucks is all decked out in summer colors and selling cold-drink tumblers, and all I want is brooding and some hot tea.

/rant (for now)

Cold and rainy weather makes me want to curl up with dark thrillers, pessimistic thinkers, supernatural spooks.

So here’s my wishful thinking TBR for the next few months (good thing I’ve been reading at double my normal pace this year!):

All the Haruki Murakami books that I have not yet read. 
Which ones? I’ve read 1Q84 (and want to reread one of these days), Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, After Dark, and What We Talk About When We Talk About Running. So, all the rest = approximately a small mountain, right?

The entire Harry Potter series 
I read the series for the first time 4 years ago, so it’s time to refresh and fall in love all over again. Yes, first time was only 4 years ago. Yes, my mom believes they are devil books.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer
A collection of fairy tales that promises to be at least as disturbing as the traditional ones.

Columbine by Dave Cullen
This is an award-winning investigative study into the lives of the killers and the survivors of the Columbine massacre.

The Raven Boys series by Margie Stiefvater
I listened to The Raven King already and it has supernatural stuff, murder, darkness, yaaassss.

The Bell Jar and The Colossus by Sylvia Plath
Feminist, dark, heavy, madness = two must reads

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke
Uhm, three characters headed towards something that looks like a disaster.

Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
Dystopian evil government possesses a girl who kills people with her touch and she has to choose which side she is on?? Serve me a slice of that dark and brooding trope cake!

MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood
I purposefully don’t know much about this because I want to be very oh so surprised, but it’s sure to be the kind of book that makes my eyes widen and my jaw clench.

Sorry (jk not really) to be such a downer on all you summery folks! Do you have any dark and scary recommendations for me?

Fashion by the Book || Belzhar, The Hobbit, 1984

I'm going to go ahead and say that after putting together last week's Fashion by the Book post, I became addicted. {Note: If you don't subscribe to the Fashion by the Book tumblr, which gave me this inspiration, you should.} My boyfriend saw me having so much fun with it that he said I should start a similar tumblr, using movie posters instead of books. Brilliant idea! Take a peek: filmfashions.tumblr.com. But back to the bookishness! Vote for your favorite at the end :)

Fashion by the Book || The Walls Around Us

One of my favorite book blogs is Fashion by the Book. This blog is raising the assumptions that you may have of book nerds not having a fashion sense. Seriously, everything that LauraElisabeth puts together is something that I both would never think of and immediately want to wear. I don't have a very good sense of style or a clothing budget, but I love coveting those outfits.

Making outfits based on book covers looks like it's something fun to do, so I downloaded the Polyvore app on my phone, decided on a beautiful book cover, and had a blast. It's really easy to use, and is as fun as it looks. I'll probably make more of these in the future. Thanks for the inspiration and possible new addiction, LauraElisabeth!

Book Blogger Love-A-Thon 2015 || Book Snapshots

When I moved across the world, I was only able to take a few beautiful books with me. These books have made world-treks too.

The Clouds by Silas Chosen was inspired by a conversation I had with my best friend (and full disclosure, lover), and dedicated to me. I went from Dubai to São Paulo to get it, then took it back to Dubai, and now that I moved to São Paulo, it's back here again with me!

Ballads and Ballad Poems, edited by Guy N. Pocock, is dated 1929, and my dear friend Qadria went to London to get it for me. She brought it back to Dubai, and I packed it along when I moved to Brazil.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, E.B. White, and illustrated by Maira Kalman, is one of the most practical and physically beautiful books I own. I didn't want to part with it, and I was able to justify packing it in my suitcase because it's *pretty* thin.

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This post is part of the Book Blogger Love-a-Thon, an event dedicated to spreading the love for blogs + bloggers! It’s time dedicated to exploring the blogging community, leaving a comment or two, meeting new friends and fostering positivity among the bloggers of the community. I'm proud to be a participant!

Linkylicious 001

I don't have enough IRL booknerd friends to appreciate these links. Help me give them their due honor.

• Shot down in the library - rofl that girl is surely Hermione. Makes my heart happy.
• "He said he used to crank out book after book, never stopped drawing, did all the right things they tell you to do. But, he had no life. He suffered anxiety, depression. He was miserable, exhausted. He could do it, but he was driving himself to sickness. Finally, one day, he just said, screw it. He made time for himself. He picked up a day job. He went out with friends, he took care of himself. He said that the best art in the world was not worth his life or his mind. And he told us the same thing. Work on taking care of yourself, even if it costs art." -  Go read the whole damn thing.
• You have an overdue book - Laughed a little harder than I should have.
• Holy Moses, Oh Jeez! Parsing the Erotic Vocabulary of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ - As if I didn't already judge FSG fans hard enough already. You know when you look at the same word over and over, the word loses its meaning? Surely that happens to more people than just me. So be prepared for "holy" to temporarily lose its value. BTW, my boo is sooo getting a valentine with a giant frankenstein quote from this.
• In Defense of Fan Art - Super short. You'll laugh. 
• Bookish Recommendations Based on Your Sign - I'm a virgo, just FYI.

(image source)

#bookspo

Twelve sexy #bookspo pics to get you in the mood for reading.