The Introverted Detective

 I'm getting people on Twitter (X) and Instagram who are advertising services. I have even purchased some services from these people. What we need to talk about is when people get pushy and how we deal with it.  Courtesy of yoursalesmaven.com While some people understand you aren't just the money they make, others just want a sale - and they want it right now! In my DMs, a good half of the salespeople who reach out are these pushy salespeople. I give credit to those who have not tried to shove me into a sale. Those people might get my money later on (for real, they might).  Online and in-person are two different problems, though. You see, I can stop responding to pushy people rather easily in my DMs. I can even block pushy salespeople in my DMs. In-person interaction is not as easy to deal with. We'll talk about general advice and what to do when someone is standing in front of you.  We'll also talk about why pushy sales practices don't work. I have elaborated as to...

 DNF stands for Do Not Finish. Today we're looking at what everyone says about not finishing the books you pick up and why people don't finish books.  As I clean up my overstuffed bookshelves I openly DNF books. As I do the read-it-or-unhaul-it challenge I've learned to DNF what I don't like. Today we're discussing what makes someone DNF a book and the pros and cons of doing so. Please note we're talking about leisure reading and not school/work project books.  Sadly, you can't DNF a book for a school or work project. The best way to suffer through a book you hate is to read the cliff notes first and then skim it. It is easy to find most cliff notes for school book reports because most schools use almost the same novels. It just depends on what is actually online and what isn't.  When You Should DNF  Sometimes you aren't sure whether you should give up or not. Is the book going to get better later? Am I just overreacting? Does the plot pick up the pa...

 When you think about yellow wallpaper do you think about female hysteria cures? Now you will. Today I'm reviewing a short suspense story about a woman dealing with depression. Her "cure" was to do nothing at all at home. Let's dive in.  Courtesy of enwallpaper.com The basic, overall plot is this; a woman dealing with postpartum depression is given the "cure" of staying home and doing nothing, only to start losing her mind and seeing the wallpaper come to life. It is so much more than that, but there are your cliff notes. If you want more context see the video below. If you don't care about historical context (but you really should), go straight to my review.  The Review Five out of five. It is literally fifteen pages and one page of introduction in my copy. It's a pamphlet of a story published in 1892 when the "rest cure" was common. The author went through the rest cure, decided she'd had enough, then gave it up. She wrote this and se...

 I am a book dragon. I need to go through my bookshelves and make some hard decisions. I have picked up books and don't know if they are my vibe. I've gotten books that are not on my bucket list, only to not read them. Let's talk about great ways to clean your bookshelves as I go through the lengthy process of cleaning mine.  Courtesy of pinterest.dk Fellow book dragons, we need to take a hard look at our shelves every few years (or months if you are constantly buying or picking up books). It'll be tough, but you'll make it. Here are a few ways to do this.  I'll talk about three main ways I go through my stash of books, then go into what I found on other methods. Some are reading challenges. Ready? How I Do It The first attempts at cleaning out your shelf can be little by little, like doing the read-it-or-unhaul-it challenge. Put your books on an Excel sheet or list (numbered), pick a number using a random generator (or state a number at random yourself), and th...

 Do you need a few quick books to read? Do you want a good story and only have a week of vacation time to read books? Let's talk about quick reads that are good books.  Courtesy of  mysteryescaperoom.com First, we need to establish what "quick" means. Some people could read a large fantasy novel in one day and sitting. I am an avid reader. I can read fast. If you can barely read a 200-page book keep in mind I can read a 400-page book in one day. This measuring stick will help you understand what I call "quick". I'll also say my favorite books are quick reads because I don't stop reading them for more than a bathroom break when I pick them up. Time loses meaning. An hour feels like five minutes.  I'm defining "quick" reads as books that can be read in two days or less. I'll start with the longest and move toward the shortest. I'm going by page numbers to keep a consistent measurement of length. You'll notice that the numbers are ...

 After going to a movie with some friends, I picked up Argylle by Elly Conway. It is going to be a series. I am reviewing the book, so whether the movie itself matches the book is irrelevant.  Courtesy of Apple We all know movies take liberties, frequent liberties on books. This one is no exception. I'm going to say it now - I loved the movie. It may even connect to The Kingsman. Whether the book does this or not is still irrelevant. I'm reviewing the book for what is in the book. It inspired the movie and not the other way around. The book couldn't have better marketing and the movie did it a massive favor by giving it public acknowledgement. The movie is based on the concept ideas for book four (not released or written) and the second movie that is coming will be based on the first book.  For the record, the book plot does not match the movie plot. I'm saying it right now so you don't expect the movie to match the book. It is the adventure of Agent Argylle. It doe...

 I realize some of my blog posts are quite random. Some of them are fluff that keeps the blog going while I work on other projects (like reading books to review). Today I'm giving you some blog topics to look forward to in the future. Ready? Lately, I've been on a book-reviewing kick because it tends to work out well for views. Also, I like the books I'm reading and pick them myself. I will take suggestions for book reviews if you have any, though. At this time (I don't know when) I plan to review Alice In Wonderland and Jane Eyre. They are toward the end of my TBR and I'm not rushing to get there. I intend to enjoy the books I read. When I get there the review will show up.  I also wanted to explain my process when it comes to reviewing books. Between both works, my hobbies, my novel writing, and life in general I do still have time to read. But I still have to keep in mind the size of the book and how much time I have to play with that day. I try to get the book f...