The Unpopular Opinion Tag | Baa Baa Black Sheep

I'm an avid believer in reading books that other people maybe haven't quite shouted from the rooftops about, and that's all fine and dandy, but because of this, I don't tend to stray too far into hyped up territories. They're heavily guarded by dragons that require pieces of your soul to enter, and the people housed up in these hyped up areas, they're crazy and try drag you into their dangerous depths of looneyville, BUT, I have escaped from these territories and visited rival, smaller, and more calmer villages and farms, so today, with thanks to Charnell for tagging me, I'm going to introduce you to my black pet sheep. Baa..

1. A Popular Book/Series You Didn't Like. At All

The Winner's Curse was always a book I was completely and utterly convinced I wouldn't love, but I never for one moment expected to find it so dry, so boring and so unappealing. Kestrel just - ugh, I really couldn't with that girl, did I read a different book to everyone else? The Immortal Rules really broke my heart when I didn't love it, it was just - meh. Nothing felt as amazing as I had expected, although I do have the sequels; guess who's going to be punishing herself soon.. And don't even get me started on The Infinite Sea, I'm genuinely convinced everybody who loved that book is crazy. WHAT EVEN IS THAT BOOK? Nothing happened. Nothing made sense. It was so damn boring. You can guarantee I'll end up reading The Last Star though. * le sigh*

Google Search Tools | How Find Time Restricted Tutorials

Whenever I'm searched for tutorials, one of the first things I check is the date in which the tutorial was posted. Nobody likes searching for answers only to find that, low and behold, these answers are years old, and you've wasted half an hour looking for something that's hidden amongst fossils. That's because Google finds webpages related to your search based on SEO, not by recent date or when it was published. Did you know that you can narrow your search down to a specified time period? Perfect if you're looking for a tutorial that isn't time friendly. Here's how.

When searching for anything in Google, you have Search Tools..

Search tools can be used to narrow any type of search down to a more specified search. As you can see, the current search results are ordered in terms of best match or most related to the subject you've searched, and that's great, but we want to specify a search time in order to find time restricted blog tutorials.

Click on 'Search Tools' and an extension will appear;

You now have different options to search either by country, which would order the search results in terms of country you specify, and by time, which is the option we're focusing on today.

Click on 'Any time' to be given more options like the following:

This is where Search Tools comes to life. You can now specify any time period you would like to search within. For blog tutorials, I usually use the 'Custom Range' feature which allows you to search within a period of time, for me, that's 6 months, and if that doesn't provide results I want, I search for within a year, in order to keep myself updated as close as possible. In this example, I've chosen 'Last Month'.

Click on a time period to search. Your search results will reorder.

See how the posts have changed now you've searched within a time period? You can still change how the results are shown by choosing by relevance or date, however, I usually stick with relevance. With the internet and everything on it changing by the day, it's sometimes hard to find tutorials that are up to date, recent and actually related to what it is your searching, and this is the best way I've found to locate time restricted articles. The Search Tool's feature can be used for almost anything - it's worth taking a look and seeing it if can benefit you.

Did you know about Google Search Tools and it's features?

Hide and Seek My Pretties | Find Me Book Tag

Okay okay, you caught me. I was never ever ever tagged for this tag and damn, I was disappointed about it. I've missed taking beautiful images of my beautiful books and now I'm getting back on my reading bandwagon, I'm back on the 'take photos of all my pretty books' bandwagon too. I just could not resist taking part in it myself. Here's my.. adequate, photography skills.

Amanda's Series Relationship - 2015 Update

Last year, I took inspiration from Nitzan and talked about my series relationship, what series I'd finished, started and planned on finishing, started and was unsure about continuing and series I wanted to started. If I could be so frank, it was a pretty nifty idea that revealed that I, am was a bit of a series un-finish-er. Fast forward over a year and I thought it would be fun (ha! who am I kidding?!) to take a look at the that relationship status now, see whether I have improved, take a look at where I stand with series, and cry over all the new series I intend to read. Essentially, I'm just digging myself into a worse hole I was already in. Fabulous, worthy post then, right? I thought so. So it begins..

Stop Using Sexual Assault/Rape As Character Development!

How many times have you read a young adult novel in which the main character, male or female, is trapped in a scenario that involves them fighting somebody off them or away from them sexually? Off the top of your head, you probably can't name any, and yet I am willing to bet that you've read a scene exactly like that. Somebody being pressured into a situation they don't want to be in. Somebody being 'convinced' that what one person wants, they want too. Somebody having to forcibly shout, scream and beg for somebody to stop what they think is acceptable. I've read scenes like these one too many times - it's about time we asked:

Why is sexual assault and rape being used in young adult fiction as 'development'?

Blogger Love: Awesome Posts That Rocked May

One of my favourite things about the blogging community is it's so vast. There's no little group of people doing one thing, there are thousands of people blogging about a thousand different things, and with so many voices in the community, it's very easy to feel lost among the many many voices. Fear not, because I'm all about sharing my love for all things fabulous, and that includes super awesome blog posts I read last month that deserve your attention. Go forth, explore, find fantastic posts and spread love!

5 Things I'd Do Differently If I Were Creating My Blog Today

It's only natural that after a specific length of time, bloggers come to look back on their journey, the highs and the lows, the good and the bad experience and consider what they may have done differently now they've already done it, or what you could have and should have changed early on in order to positively benefit yourself, and I am no different.

I'm coming up close to two years blogging, and there's been a lot of upheaval in my life lately, whether that be emotionally or mentally, online or in real life, and it's encouraged me to take a serious look at what I would have done differently with my blogging experiences if I were to start over tomorrow. After much thought, I established that these changes may just benefit others considering starting a blog, so here's 7 things I'd do differently I started a blog today.

Popular vs Underrated - Contemporary Edition

Roll up roll up, it's time for another edition of 'Amanda creates a new feature and isn't sure how long it'll last, but hey, let's enjoy the moment while it lasts!' I'm kidding, I've got a feeling this might be a re-occuring feature, hence, I made a snazzy banner to highlight just how regular this could be, but that's not what's important, what's important is recommendations, but recommendations of books you probably had no idea actually existed. These are my favourite recommendations; there's nothing better than seeing someone reading a book they heard about from you and really liking it, it's like giving children candy and it making their day, beautifulness.

4 Ways Your Blog Can Benefit Your Résumé

We all have CV's and résumé's, most of them are more than likely a little out of date, not very exciting and lacking in what could be deemed as interesting information about ourselves. God forbid we actually shared a little something personal about ourselves when applying for a job, employers are much more interested in why we enjoy socialising with friends lazy nights in with our cat, or actively seeking out new and exciting opportunities doing whatever job will hire you until you get bored and find another.

If you run a blog, you're missing out on great résumé content!

You Should Celebrate Milestones - Promotion Party!

When I first started out blogging, I never for one moment considered that I'd have achieved as much as I have. After all, blogging was just a way to kill time, a shout out to the void in the hope that somebody, anybody would care to notice, so to have a reached a point where I can fill both hands with achievements I couldn't be prouder of, that's so much more exciting. I love seeing what other people have accomplished and what people are proud of, and I've never not considered sharing my experiences or how proud I am to be a blogger, but some people fear sharing their achievements, and they're missing out of easy promotion..

Why I Don't Buy and Keep Books I Don't Have To

You're probably sat there thinking to yourself 'that's a very vague title Amanda, care to elaborate there?' Why yes, yes I would, but first, I need to give you a few examples, or else there's a chance I'll lose you. Lets see.. firstly, I read Throne of Glass last year, the only thing was, I didn't own a copy, I borrowed it from the library and so eventually, after reading it, had to return it, which would leave other people in a quandary - buy a copy to add to the 'collection' when I buy the others, or not continue the series physically, consider it on an e-reader of sorts. I, did neither of these, I just continued the series with Crown of Midnight, Assassians Blade and Heir of Fire, obtaining physical copies and just left getting Throne of Glass because, what was the point, I'd already read it? Another example was when I read Dead Girls Detective Agency via my physical copy, but only read the sequel, Dead Girl Walking, via e-arc - I didn't buy a physical copy of the sequel, I actually gave my physical copy of the first installment as a gift to my sister last Christmas since it was in perfect condition. I guess the main point is:

I dislike buying/keeping books that aren't necessary!

Where Art Thou Bisexual and Lesbian Relationships?

I am bisexual.

Right now, there's a variety of feelings going through you all - some of you didn't even bat an eyelid, some may have tweaked an eyebrow in interest, some may have been surprised, and some will have been shocked and even disgusted, but right now, it's not your reaction that matters to me most, what matters to me most is that I feel there aren't enough LGBT novels out there that covers being bisexual, or lesbian for that matter, and I would say that this distresses me, but it does more than that, it angers me.

7 Design Resources I Can't Live Without

Designing a blog isn't easy. There's a lot of trial and error, there's a lot of research that goes into getting what you want, and there's a lot of finding the right tools for the job, and trust me, it's a headache if you don't know where to look, who to go to and what to use, so today, I fancied giving you insight into my tools of the trade and how you can get your blog looking slicker, quicker.

Do Authors Dumb-Down Childrens Fiction?

So to say I've been thinking about writing a post on why I read young adult books still at the glorious age of 25 or why I'm not ashamed, for a long long time would be an understatement. But it wasn't until Darren Shan posted something eye catching on his facebook page recently did I understand that its not just a case of explaining why I love them , half the time we feel like we have to justify the reasons when we can read what ever takes our fancy and if someone doesn't like it then I'm just going to be sticking two fingers in the air from now on. I'm sick of having to explain to people why I read what I read, and I'm sick of feeling stupidly bashful while talking to someone about a 'childish' book..

I don't know if any of you that are reading this has seen in the papers recently but apparently Anthony Horowitz the author of the best selling Alex Rider books and various other things, has basically accused David Walliams of dumbing down books for children, and it's something I feel rather strongly about. So today ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to talk about what he said and why I don't agree with it.

I'm Proud To Be A Blogger

Blogging for some people is the method used to escape reality. It's a hobby that allows you delve into a deeper, sometimes more hidden area of yourself that you don't particularly show off in public. A blog for some people is an output in which they can share this other side of their personality and feel free to talk about their loves and hates, there joyful moments and in my case, books.

But how many of us don't talk about our blog outside of blogging?

I imagine there's a lot of people who blog that don't actually tell anyone about it. It's like a little secret, something only they know, something just for them, something that is theirs and they have all the control over, a space to be used when connecting to people of your choice rather than just anyone, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, in fact, I understand why you'd want to keep something so precious and important to you away from the preying of eyes of people you don't know or don't particularly like, I really really do, but your blog is something you should be proud of.

Take me for example..

When I started out blogging at Book Badger, I never for one minute considered not telling people. Blogging was to me, the same as after school football is to the kid that likes sports, or the film buff that's always looking for the next film to check out at the cinema, blogging was a hobby (and still is) the same as any other hobby in the world, and I was good at what I did. I was proud of how good I was, and I wanted to share with this is with the people in my life. Was I scared that people I didn't like or didn't know would find my blog? Yes, a little. After all, the internet is a big and scary place with a lot of people we don't know and may never know, but it never stopped me being passionate and sharing my passion.

Marathoning Series: What To Consider

Late last year, I was told by Cait that 'when I start a series I REALLY start a series' and it got me thinking about how and why I read so many series, and why I find it so easy. It's definitely not to everyones taste, but I definitely find it fun and enjoyable, in fact, it's become something I have to do from time to time, even going as far as creating my own personal reading challenge in both this year and last, and encouraging Stacie to host a month dedicated to series here on BBB - what can I say, I'm a little bit obsessed.. But I've not always been a marathoner, I didn't even know what a read-a-long was until the beginning of last year, let alone what marathoning was, I thought it was just running, but ever since I've started, I've just not been the same since.

A Correlation: Libraries Make Me Read More Series

I know what you're thinking.. Amanda has officially lost her marbles, but fear not, for I have my mind completely in tact. No, what we're talking about today is very much a true story. A story of how one little girl rekindled her love for libraries and then became so obsessed with them, she ended up reading many series with the aid of them, not least 4 of her favourite series, ever, and just cannot get enough of them. Okay, maybe a few marbles arranged an escape early on the week, but I'm serious, between my using my local libraries and reading so many series, I've noticed a correlation between my actions -

4 Things That Make Me Click To Read Content

One of the misconceptions behind blogging is that just by putting your content out there, people will see it, and that's not true. If you want people to see your content you've been working on for hours, you need to do more than just press 'post' or 'publish', you need to promote it, because without promotion, you'll have no readers, and without readers, you'll have no views, and whether we like to admit it or not, views are important, they define you, they make you aware of what you're doing, how you're doing it, and allow yourself to ask questions. The most common of the questions I ask myself regularly is 'would I read this if somebody else wrote it?' It's what encourages me to strive for better content, it's what reminds me that I need to promote, that I need to make everything I write appealing to you, otherwise you'd never read it, and I'd have wasted my time entirely.

5 Things People Who Hate Writing Reviews Can Do

There's a general consensus that reviews are the least liked posts in the blogosphere. They're the posts that people skip reading, the posts that generally take the longest to write, and they aren't just easily plucked out of thin air, I mean, you've actually got to do an entirely different activity before you can even write anything, unlike discussions posts such as this that can go from idea to words in a matter of seconds. In fact, I've been seeing a lot of the same phrases lately concerning book reviews:

• 'I'm never in the mood to write reviews.'
• 'I just can't bring myself to sit and write them.'
• 'I've got a backlog of reviews I just don't want to write'
• 'I don't read enough to be able to create constant review content.'
• 'Reviews are the least liked, so I like writing them least.'

The list could go on and on, but the general vibe is that reviews are demanding little buggers that want you to sit down and come up with fabulous words that will more than likely not encourage other people to read said book, because lets face it, if you haven't heard of the book, seen the book, or read the book, you probably won't be clicking that 'read more' button, will you?

LoveReading(4Kids): UK and IRE Review Opportunities

Until a few months ago, I used to get near enough all of my advance copies of books and review copies off NetGalley, and while I love NetGalley and it's wide selection, it's not without it's issues, and no amount of love ever helped me come to terms with the fact that I always have to read those books on my laptop (because I refuse to buy a Kindle just for reading NetGalley reads); it's not a terrible issue, but can you imagine what reading at 3am off a 15" screen can do to your eyes? It's not kind, I can tell you that, but then Stacie revealed her secret behind physical copies..

LoveReading4Kids