Celeste, Author at A Literary Escape

WWW Wednesday: August 16, 2023

Published on August 16, 2023August 16, 2023 by Celeste9 Comments

The last time I did a WWW Wednesday was…*checks blog* …in early January. Why? Because I’m lazy and tend to avoid creating posts with lots of book covers. However, I have a little bit of time on my hands, so I decided to come back to this meme.

For those unaware of this meme, WWW Wednesday was revived and hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is to answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses.

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

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First Lines Fridays: August 11, 2023

Published on August 11, 2023August 6, 2023 by Celeste4 Comments

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? The rules are as follows:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

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How To Improve Social Media Interaction

Published on August 10, 2023August 9, 2023 by Celeste25 Comments

I try not to dwell too much on some of the behavior I see on social media. The chances are that I don’t know the whole story or I’m being cynical about human behavior or both or neither. But one facet of social media I keep thinking about is engagement, specifically on Twitter. I think about how to improve social media interaction. And when I mention social media I mainly mean Twitter because that’s my preferred platform.

Lately I keep seeing tweets from others who feel like they aren’t receiving the amount of engagement they’d like to have. This perceived or factual low engagement may come as no surprise considering all of the changes occurring on Twitter. The algorithm, not to mention the platform itself, constantly seems to be in a state of flux. But I didn’t write this post to complain about the changes on Twitter, including how it often hides replies.

Regardless of the mess that is Twitter, there are other factors at play that affect engagement. And all of these elements I discuss below are things that one can control to some degree. Though I have the book reviewer community in mind for this discussion, these tips are broadly applicable outside of the book review sphere. Last year I mentioned some of these action items when I posted about how to make book blog friends and grow your audience. I expand upon them in this discussion about how to improve social media interaction. Although the title of this post implies a focus on social media, I also share tips on how to improve blog interaction.

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The Firsts of 2023 Book Tag

Published on August 8, 2023August 1, 2023 by Celeste11 Comments

When I saw Annemieke mention this on her blog, I decided it sounded fun and I would do it. The Readings Firsts book tag was originally created by Tanya from girlxoxo. I couldn’t find a 2023 version to link to on Tanya’s blog, so I’ll stick with Annemieke’s list of reading firsts. It’s a short and sweet book tag, so let’s get started!

First Book Read This Year

I actually started this book in 2022, but finished it in 2023. It’s an approachable book written for young adults about, overall, what’s the “tea” about being trans. It includes examples of well-known people who are trans, how to tell your family, among other topics.

First Book Reviewed

The first review I posted on my blog in 2023 was Love On the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. But I don’t know if it’s the first review I technically wrote in 2023. I tend to have reviews on the backburner in case I get too busy to write up new ones.

First Book By A Debut Author

Bookworm by Robin Yeatman is the first book I read in 2023 by a debut author. It’s a subversive dark comedy and I received an ARC of it for free to review.

First Book By A New-To-Me Author

My answer to this is the same as in the last prompt: BOOKWORM by Robin Yeatman.

First Book That Slayed Me

I reread the A Court of Thorns and Roses series this year, so A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas was the first book to slay me. I cried as much at the end of that book as I did the first time I read it.

First Book That I Wish I Could Get Back The Time I Spent Reading It

It took a while before I read a book this year that made me wish I’d spent my time reading something else. That novella is Gilded Cage by Dani Wyatt.

If anyone wants to participate in The Firsts of 2023 book tag, please feel free. I’m not going to tag anyone this time. But I’d love to see your answers for The Firsts of 2023!

Book Review: Portrait of A Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

Published on August 7, 2023August 6, 2023 by Celeste7 Comments

Today’s review is about PORTRAIT OF A SCOTSMAN by Evie Dunmore. It’s a historical romance set in 19th century England and Scotland. It was a time when women’s suffrage started taking the spotlight. Women had few rights and what rights they had essentially became null once married. This book explores autonomy, suffrage, and economic topics which remain relevant today.

Author: Evie Dunmore
Series: A League of Extraordinary Women Book 3
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Berkley
Publish Date: September 7, 2021
Print Length: 432

Want to support local bookstores? Buy a copy of Portrait of a Scotsman on Bookshop.org!*

*These are not affiliate links and I do not make a commission from any purchase made using these links.

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