Monday Amusements 7

Welcome to my first Monday Amusements post of 2013, bringing you some of my favourite bookish articles and blog posts from the last few weeks and beyond!

Photo by Christopher Brown

Simon from the Big Green Bookshop wrote about how Andrew Kaufman's All My Friends Are Superheroes saved his camping holiday. All My Friends Are Superheroes was one of the earliest books I reviewed on this blog, and it really is lovely. You should go read it, now. My review is here.

Keris Stainton, author of Della Says: OMG!, is running a online course about writing for teenagers.

Clover, of Fluttering Butterflies, shares her top tips for beating reading slumps, and they must be effective, as I'm sure she's one of book blogging's biggest readers.

Tanya at Girlxoxo responds to the proliferation of top book cover lists that only feature white models by sharing three great covers featuring people of varied ethnicities.

Amanda from the Strange Chemistry blog wonders 'So When Will YA Sci-Fi Finally Arrive?'. I think this is an excellent question because I really love sci-fi with teen characters. More please!

I was excited to read about the Bristol Women's Literature Festival, though I can't actually go myself.

C. J. Daugherty, author of Night School, listed her top 10 secret society books for The Guardian. The sequel to Night School, Night School: Legacy, is out now but I haven't received a review copy so I can't read it til both my no-buy and the Double Dog Dare TBR Challenge is over. Argh! I really need to know what happens next!

Casey at Literary Escapism suggests methods to help you conquer your TBR mountain.

Most book bloggers know about In My Mailbox/Letterbox Love and Top Ten Tuesday, but have you heard of Nail Your Books, a meme in which you match your nail varnish to the cover of the book you're reading? I only found out about it when I saw a retweet of Mist's Under the Never Sky Nail Your Books post on Twitter. I've been meaning to do a cross-blog feature in which I show an outfit that matches my current book cover for ages, but just fingernails would be much less work...hmm...

Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat, wrote a really interesting essay about the lack of female anti-heroes for the Virago blog.

I think that 'Why online book discovery is broken (and how to fix it)' is a really interesting post. I agree that Amazon and other bookstore sites are next-to-useless for finding new books. Tat's why I got into book blogging in the first place, and this post suggests that book bloggers could become the online equivalent of booksellers, which is a fascinating idea.

Finally, The Flaneur is seeking photographs of bookshelves for an art project.

This year I am planning to do a Monday Amusements post at least every other Monday, so do subscribe if you enjoy my link selections. There is also an archive for you to explore.