Taking a Hiatus

It's been a while since I posted a review here.... A long while and to be honest, the review was so rushed and I felt so pressured to write it, it was bad. Time to face the fact that I just don't have the time for this blog at the moment.

I have books a,ll the way back to November I haven't yet blogged about. Look how many!

This makes me sad. I love my blog, I love talking about books and I love the book blogging community. But the time has come to take a break. Blogging now feels like a chore, something I must do... and that isn't how it should be.

So for now I won't be writing reviews. I will still be tracking the books I read via my Reviews by Month page, but I won't be writing about each book I read. This doesn't mean I won't post on here occasionally, I still love to talk about books and may have things I want to share, but the pressure to review is something I need a break from.

I'll still be reading your awesome blogs when I can and I WILL be back!

So for now, happy reading and see you soon!

The Price of Indecision!

As you can see, I have reverted back to my old blog layout. I just couldn't get used to the new layout and it just never "felt" right. You know what I mean? 

I think we book bloggers are all a bit picky like that... a book blog is not only a place where we can talk about our passion for books, and discuss them with other who share our passions, but it also a reflection of who we are. Without wanting to get too deep about something as simple as a layout (I do have a tendency to over think!), it is important that our layout represents our personalities! This layout has always felt comfortable for me. I like the simple, uncluttered, organised look. So for now, I will be using this. 

I would like something a bit 'fancier' in the future, but alas! I just get by with basic html and I am certainly no graphic designer. So we will see.

How often do you change your blog layout? Have you have the same design since day one? or, do you think variety is the spice of life!?

Moving house has me frazzled!

Hello Regular Readers!

You may have noticed I haven't been posting as much lately. A lot has been going on. Work has been demanding, I am currently in the process of moving house so I have been busy packing and organising things, and I have been sick. Phew! That is a lot to deal with all in one go. Needless to say, I haven't been getting much reading done. 

I am hoping things settle down within the next few weeks and I can get back to two of the things I love the most, reading and blogging! 

Until then, I hope all is going well in your bookish worlds, and I apologise that I haven't been commenting on all of your lovely blogs much either, hopefully I will be back soon!

Holiday time!

Some of you may have noticed that I have been absent for the past week. Usually I try my best to post once or twice a week, because really, what is a blog without new posts?! This week, however, I was working as a substitute at a local high school all week, plus tutoring  late afternoons/nights... so I really haven't had any time to post let alone read! Don't you hate it when work gets in the way of your reading time? 

Good news though! Now, I am on school holidays!! That's right. In Australia, we have just started our two week, mid-year holidays. Do you know what that means?..... READING TIME! 

I plan on spending my time off reading as many books as I can because I don't know what my workload will be like next term. Also, university starts up again soon so I will have to spend a good part of my time delving into my texts. Right now, I am very much looking forward to these school holidays just so I can do nothing much but read. 

I am almost finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest and hope to have that review up within the next few days! 

I am glad to be back and will also be spending the next few days catching up on all your wonderful blogs!

Update on my life, my absence and Japanese literature

Oh boy, what a week! Last week I started a substitute teaching position at a new school as well as my coaching work. So as you can imagine I have been run off my feet! 8am-7pm days (plus lesson preparation) doesn't leave much time for reading. I get up, go to school, finish there then go to my second job, come home, have dinner, do any lesson planning I need to do and then I try to read but I usually just end up falling asleep. I am so tired I probably wouldn't even eat if my wonderful fiance wasn't looking after dinner for me! I am very lucky to have him.

I am hoping that once I get into the swing of things I won't be as exhausted all the time and that I will still have time to maintain this blog with at least 2 posts a week. I will do my best.

I really do love teaching though and figure that all this hard work is worth it in the long run. Also, substitute work is hard to come by and I don't know how long it will last before I am looking for work again. So I will enjoy it while I have it! Plus, the mid-year holidays are in 4 weeks! That's two weeks of blissful reading time! Looking forward to that.

I am lucky enough to have today off work though so I am planning on getting some serious reading done! I am currently reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. I have only managed to read 120 pages in a week (pretty shocking, but that's how busy/tired I have been) but I am enjoying it nevertheless. 

It is the story of Toru Watanabe looking back over his days as a university student. He recalls his first love, Naoko and his newest interest, Midori.

Since I haven't read much of this book yet, I can't really comment on it. I have read it in bits and pieces so I am having trouble connecting to the story and characters but I am hoping that changes as I have the time to read for longer.

I love Murakami novels and Japanese literature. Some of my favourites are Kafka on the Shore by Murakami, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Murakami and Out by Natsuo Kirino. 

Do you read Japanese literature? If so, what is your favourite? What novels or authors would you recommend?

My new home

Ok guys! It's official. I have moved my bloggy home.

For the past 4 months, And the Plot Thickens... has been doing great over at wordpress. I have really enjoyed getting my blog off the ground and have met some wonderful, fellow book bloggers while doing so. I love wordpress and have another blog there and I am very happy with it. Thing is, for this particular blog, there is so much I want to do with it that I just can't do, at wordpress.

So due to the limited scope I have over there for layout, design and widgets, I decided to move over here to Blogger!

I am a bit nervous about doing this as I had started to build up a following and am concerned about losing all my lovely readers. But it needed to be done. So I hope you will all update your links and readers and come and join me over here as I begin the new phase for my blog.

Also, add yourself as a follower with the google followers widget at the side! That way I can really get to know you guys and see your blogs too (that is something wordpress did not offer!)

I know moving my blog the day before I participate in the read-a-thon might also not be the smartest move, but please check out my progress here as this is where I will be tracking!

Also, I am still playing with layout... so excuse me if everytime you check out this blog for the next week it looks a bit different ... I will reach perfection! Life would be so much easier if I knew XML, but I don't, so it is a slow process of trail and error.

I am looking forward to seeing where this goes!