Spilling the Beans on All Things Related to Blogging and Life

Hello friends! We haven't done a personal post in quite some time, much less one with all three of us, so, given that we have some news for you, we thought it was high time to create a post like this. We also want to let you know that we will be taking some time off to prepare for some exciting changes to the blog and will be back (and better than ever) on the 15th March! 

{Royal Rantings} Why I Love Rereading

I know a lot of people consider rereading a waste of time, which is, obviously, a valid opinion, even though I don't agree with it. 

My love for rereading comes from my childhood when I had limited amount of books to read, and so I spent a lot of time rereading my favorites. Today, I'm lucky to own a shit ton of books - around a hundred of them unread *cries* - and to have an ever-growing tbr shelf. So I fully, and I mean FULLY understand why many of your feel like rereading is a waste of time that you could spend reading new books. I just.. I don't feel that way. 

I think my tbr will never make me stop rereading. Thing is, my aim was never to devour all the books of ever, because that's a) flipping impossible, b) I read for my enjoyment, so when I feel up to a reread, you bet I'll jump right into one. So, why exactly is rereading fantastic according to yours truly?

Say Hi To the Newest Members of My Ever-Growing TBR

this is a Top Ten Tuesday prompt

Hello friends! As the title promises, today I am here to welcome the newest additions to my to-read list. Yes, that is all, that is the post. But listen!! This is, indeed, very necessary because just imagine how cold and alone these books must feel joining a huge pile of others... all of whom are probably saying "that bitch is bloody terrible at picking us up, don't have high hopes." And, boy, wouldn't they be right?

To avoid these precious books running away, I am fully ready to flail over all my newly discovered/added darlings, and to try to make you adopt some of them, as well, because when it comes to books sharing is caring.

Books That Deserve Their Own Netflix Show

Firstly I'd like to say thank you for all the support and agreement on my last post Blogger Imposter Syndrome (and Me), I was so worried about posting that and am now so relieved that so many of you understand what I'm feeling! This community really is the best! 

By now you've probably heard that the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo are getting an adaptation. And OMG if you're anything like me you are crazy levels of excited and intrigued. (It could be so good but what if they get it wrong). And it got me thinking about all the many other books I'd love to see get the Netflix treatment. 

Blogger Imposter Syndrome (and Me)

There's been a lot of talk aimed at bloggers by certain authors on twitter lately. And it's by no means something new or something I really want to get involved in except to say that bloggers as a whole work freaking hard and we deserve better. But it has brought to my mind something I sort of struggle with in blogging almost constantly and that's imposter syndrome. So here are some of my thoughts and why they're wrong (maybe I can convince myself?).

Outstanding Dedications from My Favorite Novels

Here's the thing, I used to be one of those annoying people who skipped the dedication without a second thought and never looked at the acknowledgements nor the author's notes. I'm shaking my head so hard at my past self, because now I believe that these parts can give you an insight into the author's personality, the research they did, where their ideas came from, or - in historical fiction - what parts of the book are real vs. made up. 

The idea for this post came to me around a year ago, as I was reading Hunted by Meagan Spooner, which has one of the coolest dedications ever, I swear. (Yes, you can find it below!) Ever since Hunted, I've been playing around with the idea of collecting some of my favorite dedications - and today I am finally here with 13 of the best I could dig up!

{Royal Rantings} Can a ship ruin a book?

To clarify, in this post I'll be concentrating on novels that have a romantic sub-plot, however, are not strictly romance novel. I feel like the answer to "can a romance novel be ruined if you hate the ship?" is a pretty obvious yes, because the relationship of the protagonists is the main focus of these novels.

With that being said, my answer to the question in any novel with a ship is the same - a yes, but perhaps a more tentative one. Depending on a variety of things, disliking, or even downright hating a couple can have totally different results when it comes my overall rating and enjoyment of a novel. 

The Academy Award Book Tag!!

2018 was a really weird reading year for me - my reading tastes changed a whole heck of a lot and I also read a lot less than I'm used to. But I also read so, so many wonderful books! I've done this tag before and usually try to stick to new releases but decided not to do that this year because that's hard and I'm too lazy.

{bookish confessions} Books I Haven't Read by My Favorite Authors

Well well well, look what I have today - a new feature on The Regal Critiques, called bookish confessions.

In these posts I'll be confessing all kinds of things I'm ashamed of that have to do with reading - think of: popular authors I have no interest in, unpopular opinions etc. Although, knowing myself this might be the one and only time I actually write one of these confession posts, because I always get excited about something new, and then forget all about it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But! Do not let that ruin our fun today - in this edition of bookish confessions I will be sharing seven authors I want to hug so badly (only if they consent though. Pls, do not hug/touch/etc. people without asking, it ain't cool, not even if they're famous authors) because I adore their work. However, and I'm ashamed to admit this, there are some books I haven't yet read by them, BUT I WILL, so it's ok!? Right!? RIGHT.

A Winter's Tale: Wrap-Up Post + Giveaway Winner Announcement

It's so hard to believe that December and with that A Winter's Tale has come to an end. 

Anyhow, enough of that! Today, as the title suggests, I'm here to (1) announce our giveaway winner!! and (2) give you a smol recap of A Winter's Tale. 

First of all, I wish December could have gone on and on and on, with more and more guest-posts coming, because I was so impressed by every single one of the posts our friends created for us. So, to our guest-posters:

thank you SO MUCH for being so kind and for contributing exceptionally amazing posts! Wish I could hug you all - those of you who like/want hugs anyway. 💜